'For a discredited short-seller...': Adani Group hits back over Hindenburg report

The Adani Group on Sunday (Aug 11) rejected the claims made by short-seller Hindenburg Research in its latest reportwhich claimed that market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) chief,Madhabi Puri Buch,had connections with the conglomerate.

Adani Group calledHindenburg a 'discredited' short-seller whose allegations were“malicious, mischievous and manipulative”.

"For a discredited short-seller under the scanner for several violations of Indian securities laws, Hindenburg's allegations are no more than red herrings thrown by a desperate entity with total contempt for Indian laws," the group said.

"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."

As for the alleged relationship with the SEBI chief and if it altered the investigation against the company, Adani Group said: "The Adani Group has absolutely no commercial relationship with the individuals or matters mentioned in this calculated deliberate effort to malign our standing."

The Hindenburg report stated that Madhabi and her husband, Dhaval Buch, held 'clandestine' stakes in obscure offshore funds that were part of a complex financial structure used by the Adani Group. Their money was parked in a fund, linked to associates of Vinod Adani, brother of Gautam Adani, who is chairman of the Adani Group.

SEBI chief statement

Reacting to Hindenburg's allegations, Madhabi and her husband released a joint statement, accusing Hindenburg of 'character assassination'.

"Our life and finances are an open book," said Buch in a joint statement with her husband.

"It is unfortunate that Hindenburg Research, against whom SEBI has taken enforcement action and issued a show cause notice, has chosen to attempt character assassination in response to the same," they added.

This report by Hindenburg comes more than a year after the short-seller alleged improper use of tax havens and stock manipulation by Adani Group, setting off a $150 billion sell-off in the conglomerate's stocks despite its denials of wrongdoing.

Notably, SEBI sent a show-cause notice to Hindenburg earlier this year, accusing the short-seller of falsely claiming that it had no direct or indirect exposure to Adani Group shares listed in India.

SEBI said that Hindenburg's January 2023 report on the Adani Group included misleading disclosures.

SEBI chief to quit?

According to reliable sources, a big fallout due to the report within the upper hierarchy of SEBI may not be ruled out.

Reports indicate that Adani Group has already begun lobbying for the next SEBI chairperson and the name of Dinesh Khara, the recently retired former State Bank of India chief, is doing the rounds.

As for the confidence in the Indian markets and economy, especially the foreign investors, the opposition has started pressuring the Indian government to act and remove the SEBI chief.

(With inputs from agencies)