Hindenburg Claims India Regulator Chief Had Stake in Adani Offshore Funds

12 Aug 2024 CW Team

US-based short-seller Hindenburg Research alleged on Saturday that Madhabi Puri Buch, the head of India's market regulator, had previously held investments in offshore funds also used by the Adani Group.

In a late-night press statement, Buch dismissed the report's allegations as baseless.

Buch provided a personal statement asserting that she had adhered to all disclosure requirements diligently. She clarified that the investments in the fund mentioned in the Hindenburg report were made in 2015 in a private capacity, two years before she joined the Securities and Exchange Board of India.

India's market regulator urged investors to remain calm and exercise due diligence before reacting to such reports.

Hindenburg's report led to renewed criticism from India's opposition political parties, who called for a parliamentary investigation. The report, citing whistleblower documents, claimed that Buch and her husband had stakes in an offshore fund that received a significant investment from associates of Vinod Adani, the brother of Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani.

The Adani Group refuted the allegations, stating that its overseas holding structure was fully transparent. A spokesperson for the conglomerate labeled the Hindenburg claims as "no more than red herrings thrown by a desperate entity with total contempt for Indian laws." The spokesperson added that the Adani Group had "absolutely no commercial relationship with the individuals or matters mentioned in this calculated deliberate effort to malign our standing."

In January 2023, Hindenburg had released a report alleging improper use of tax havens and stock manipulation by the Adani Group, which triggered a $150 billion sell-off in the conglomerate's shares despite its denials of wrongdoing. Since then, the shares have made a partial recovery.

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