Business
Sebi to submit report on Adani to Supreme Court-appointed panel
MUMBAI: The Securities and Exchange Board of India confirmed that it will submit its findings on the Adani Group to a court-appointed committee.
“If you see the Supreme Court order, it instructs us to give precisely this update to the committee,” Madhabi Puri Buch, chairperson of the nation’s capital markets regulator, said in Mumbai Wednesday. “It will be inappropriate for us to share with the media and the public at large of what we have been instructed by the highest court of the land to go and report to the committee.”
This is her first media interaction since short seller Hindenburg Research published a report accusing billionaire Gautam Adani of stock manipulation and fraud.
The Supreme Court this month directed Sebi to investigate certain aspects of the matter. The Adani Group is back in fire-fighting mode after media reports Tuesday called into question the Indian conglomerate’s ability to repay debt, reviving a selloff in its stock. Adani rebutted the allegations in the reports and has repeatedly denied Hindenburg’s allegations.
Specifically, the Supreme Court asked Sebi to look into whether the Adani group has violated minimum public shareholding norms, failed to disclose related party transactions and manipulated stock prices against law.
The regulator had told the court it was already “enquiring into both, the allegations made in the Hindenburg report as well as the market activity immediately preceding and post the publication of the report.” Sebi and a court-appointed panel has to submit a report by May 2.
At the heart of the allegations is the question of who owns the money routed into Adani companies through stock purchases by entities registered in Mauritius. Prior investigations by Sebi and Department of Revenue Intelligence into the ultimate ownership of these entities have been underway since 2021 and are also pending outcome.
“If you see the Supreme Court order, it instructs us to give precisely this update to the committee,” Madhabi Puri Buch, chairperson of the nation’s capital markets regulator, said in Mumbai Wednesday. “It will be inappropriate for us to share with the media and the public at large of what we have been instructed by the highest court of the land to go and report to the committee.”
This is her first media interaction since short seller Hindenburg Research published a report accusing billionaire Gautam Adani of stock manipulation and fraud.
The Supreme Court this month directed Sebi to investigate certain aspects of the matter. The Adani Group is back in fire-fighting mode after media reports Tuesday called into question the Indian conglomerate’s ability to repay debt, reviving a selloff in its stock. Adani rebutted the allegations in the reports and has repeatedly denied Hindenburg’s allegations.
Specifically, the Supreme Court asked Sebi to look into whether the Adani group has violated minimum public shareholding norms, failed to disclose related party transactions and manipulated stock prices against law.
The regulator had told the court it was already “enquiring into both, the allegations made in the Hindenburg report as well as the market activity immediately preceding and post the publication of the report.” Sebi and a court-appointed panel has to submit a report by May 2.
At the heart of the allegations is the question of who owns the money routed into Adani companies through stock purchases by entities registered in Mauritius. Prior investigations by Sebi and Department of Revenue Intelligence into the ultimate ownership of these entities have been underway since 2021 and are also pending outcome.
