Indian regulator warns investors over Adani saga — RT India

India’s stock market regulator has urged investors to “Keep calm” and exercise “due diligence” after US short-seller Hindenburg Research made fresh allegations against Adani Group over the weekend, the latest twist in a long-running controversy.

In a report released on Saturday, Hindenburg claimed that Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch and her husband Dhaval Buch held stakes in “dark offshore funds” that the company disclosed last year in connection with allegations “stock market manipulation” by Adani Group. Hindenburg also questioned the delay in launching an investigation against Adani Group and the objectivity of SEBI in the matter.

Adani Group shares saw significant volatility on Monday following the new allegations. According to Reuters, $2.43 billion, or 1%, was wiped off the stock market value of Adani companies by the end of the trading day.

The conglomerate, led by billionaire Guatam Adani, and the SEBI chairman have denied Hindenburg’s allegations.

In a statement issued late on Sunday, the regulator noted that the allegations made by Hindenburg against the Adani Group had already been duly investigated by SEBI and 23 of the 24 investigations had been completed by March 2024, while the remaining one was close to being completed. The regulator said it refrained from commenting on any ongoing investigations. “on principle”.

SEBI defended its director, saying Buch had made the relevant declarations required to hold securities. “It is emphasised that SEBI has adequate internal mechanisms to address issues relating to conflicts of interest,” The regulator noted. Madhabi Buch, in a separate statement, claimed that her investment in the offshore funds mentioned in the Hindenburg report was made in 2015, two years before she joined SEBI.

Meanwhile, the Mutual Fund Association of India on Monday criticised Hindenburg’s report for attempting to undermine the SEBI chief’s credentials as well as India’s economic progress. The body also called the US firm’s move an attempt to “to create a sensation by connecting random events that happened in the past.”

In June, the Indian regulator issued a notice to Hindenburg, accusing the company of misusing “unfair” the benefits of “connivance” with New York-based hedge fund manager Mark Kingdon to profit from the stock market rout in Adani Group shares. The short seller called the notice “absurdity.”

Hindenburg released its first report claiming that the Adani group was “engaged in brazen stock market manipulation and a system of accounting fraud over decades” In January 2023, the group’s valuation fell by around $145 billion, to its lowest level. Later, the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, an international investigative platform known for its work on the Panama Papers and the Pandora Papers, published its own investigations into the Adani Group’s alleged stock market manipulation.

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