New Delhi: The cross-fire between US-based short seller Hindenburg Research and India’s market regulatory body chairperson, Madhabi Buch, seems unending, with the former now claiming that Buch’s response includes several admissions that raise numerous “new critical questions.”
Hindenburg, in its response posted on ‘X’, said, “Buch’s response now publicly confirms her investment in an obscure Bermuda/Mauritius fund structure, alongside money allegedly siphoned by Vinod Adani. She also confirmed the fund was run by a childhood friend of her husband, who at the time was an Adani director.”
The SEBI chairperson had yesterday strongly denied the allegations, terming it ‘baseless and insinuation’.
Buch said, “Our life and finances are an open book. All disclosures, as required, have already been furnished to SEBI over the years. We have no hesitation in disclosing any and all financial documents, including those that relate to the period when we were strictly private citizens, to any and every authority that may seek them. Further, in the interest of complete transparency, we would be issuing a detailed statement in due course.”
She further added, “It is unfortunate that Hindenburg Research, against whom SEBI has taken an Enforcement action and issued a show cause notice, has chosen to attempt character assassination in response to the same.”
Hindenburg, in its response, further stated that SEBI was tasked with investigating investment funds relating to the Adani matter, which would include funds “Buch was personally invested in and funds by the same sponsor, which were specifically highlighted in “our original report.” This is obviously a massive “conflict of interest.”
Meanwhile, the market regulator SEBI had yesterday urged the investors to remain “calm and exercise due diligence” while reacting to such reports.
On the other hand, Adani Group had also issued a statement saying, “The latest allegations by Hindenburg are malicious, mischievous, and manipulative selections of publicly available information to arrive at pre-determined conclusions for personal profiteering with wanton disregard for facts and the law.
“We completely reject these allegations against the Adani Group, which are a recycling of discredited claims that have been thoroughly investigated, proven to be baseless, and already dismissed by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in March 2023,”Adani Group said in a stock exchange filing.
Hindenburg, in its response, said Buch’s statement also claims that the two consulting companies she set up, including the Indian entity and the “opaque” Singaporean entity became immediately dormant on her appointment with SEBI in 2017, with her husband taking over starting in 2019.
“Per its latest shareholding list as of March 31, 2024, Agora Advisory Limited (India) is still 99% owned by Madhabi Buch, not her husband. Furthermore, Buch remained a 100% shareholder of Agora Partners Singapore until March 16, 2022, per Singaporean records, owning it during her entire time as a SEBI whole-time member. She only transferred her shares into her husband’s name two weeks after her appointment as SEBI Chairperson,” Hindenburg Research claimed.
Amid all this crossfire, the opposition party Congress has demanded that the whole matter be probed by a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) and also demanded immediate resignation of the SEBI Chairperson pending investigations.
