Sebi chief responds to Adani allegations in Hindenburg report: Calls it 'character assassination'
PTC News Desk: Chairperson of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), Madhabi Puri Buch, and her spouse have refuted the claims made by US short-seller Hindenburg that they held investments in obscure offshore funds linked to the 'Adani money siphoning scandal,' character assassination attempt.
Madhabi Puri Buch and Dhaval Buch maintained their finances were transparent and called the accusations "baseless" and "devoid of any truth" in a joint statement.
"With regard to the accusations made against us in the Hindenburg Report dated August 10, 2024, we would like to clarify that we vehemently refute the unfounded claims and implication contained in the report. There is no truth in the same. Our finances and way of life are transparent."
"Over the years, Sebi has already received all necessary disclosures. We will not hesitate to provide any and all financial records, even those from our time as solely private people, to any authority that requests them," it continued.
"In the interest of complete transparency," the head of Sebi and her spouse promised to release a comprehensive statement shortly.
The pair criticized the study and stated, "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."
On Saturday, Hindenburg Research raised concerns about potential conflicts of interest with the market regulator by citing documents from whistleblowers to claim that Madhabi Puri Buch, who oversees the investigation of claims of misconduct and stock manipulation in the Adani Group of companies, and her spouse had investments in unidentified offshore funds that were utilized in the Adani money siphoning case.
Eighteen months after publishing its devastating assessment on Adani, Hindenburg claimed in a blog post that "Sebi has shown a surprising lack of interest in Adani's alleged undisclosed web of Mauritius and offshore shell entities."
In response to Hindenburg's accusations, opposition parties, including the Congress, attacked the Centre with blistering abandon and demanded that all conflicts of interest in Sebi's Adani Group investigation be resolved immediately.
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- With inputs from agencies
