This illustrated photo, taken in Krakow, Poland, on February 2, 2023, shows the Hindenburg Research website displayed on a laptop screen and the Adani logo displayed on a mobile phone screen.
Noor Photos | Noor Photos | Getty Images
India’s market regulator chairman Madhabi Puri Buch previously held investments in certain offshore funds also used by Adani Group, U.S. short-seller Hindenburg Research said in a new report on Saturday.
Citing whistleblower documents, Hindenburg said Buch and her husband held shares in an offshore fund that was heavily funded by Vinod Adani, brother of Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani. colleagues invest.
Bucher denied the report’s allegations were baseless.
Bucher said Sunday that all disclosure and recusal requirements were strictly followed. He added that the investments in the funds mentioned in the Hindenburg report were made in a private capacity in 2015, two years before joining SEBI.
India’s markets regulator on Sunday asked investors to remain calm and conduct due diligence before reacting to reports such as Hindenburg’s.
The regulator said SEBI had launched a formal investigation into Hindenburg’s allegations against the Adani Group, with 23 of the 24 investigations completed in March 2024.
In January 2023, Hindenburg released a report accusing the Adani Group of improper use of tax havens and stock manipulation, leading to a $150 billion sell-off in the group’s shares, although the group denied wrongdoing. The stock has since recovered partially.
The 2023 report also triggered an investigation by the country’s markets regulator, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), which is still ongoing. In May this year, six companies in the Adani Group revealed that they had received notices from SEBI alleging violation of Indian stock market rules.
While probing the Adani Group, SEBI issued a “show cause” notice to Hindenburg Research, accusing short sellers of violating the country’s rules by using non-public information to conduct short bets.
Hindenburg Research said the accusations were “nonsense” in a report posted on its website in July, which also disclosed the regulator’s notice.
In the latest report, Hindenburg sought to link offshore funds trading Adani Group shares to Buch and her husband’s personal investments.
The Bermuda-based Global Opportunities Fund is said to have sub-funds that were used by entities linked to the Adani Group to trade shares in group companies, according to an investigation by the Financial Times.
Citing whistleblower documents, Hindenburg said Bucher and her husband were investors in one of the sub-funds in 2015.
Citing whistleblower documents, Hindenburg said that in 2017, before Buch was appointed a full-time member of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), the second-highest position at SEBI, her husband asked to be The only operator for this account.
Later in 2022, she was appointed to head the regulator.
“We believe our findings raise questions that deserve further investigation. We welcome the increased transparency,” Hindenburg said.
