SEBI Chief Denies Hindenburg Report: 'Character Assassination Attempt'

The chairperson of capital markets regulator, Sebi, Madhabi Puri Buch, and her husband have denied allegations made by US short-seller Hindenburg Research as "baseless" and "devoid of truth". They stated that their finances are "an open book". 

Hindenburg Research alleged that Sebi chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch and her husband had stakes in obscure offshore funds used in the Adani money siphoning scandal.

In a blogpost, Hindenburg said 18 months since its damning report on Adani, "SEBI has shown a surprising lack of interest in Adani's alleged undisclosed web of Mauritius and offshore shell entities."

Citing "whistleblower documents", it said, "Madhabi Buch, the current chairperson Of SEBI, and her husband had stakes in both obscure offshore funds used in the Adani money siphoning scandal."

Responding to the allegation, Buchs said in their statement, "In the context of allegations made in the Hindenburg Report dated August 10,2024 against us, we would like to state that we strongly deny the baseless allegations and insinuations made in the report."

"The same are devoid of any truth. Our life and finances are an open book.  All disclosures as required have already been furnished to SEBI over the years," the statement said. Buchs further said they 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," it added.

Criticising the report, the couple said, "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."

What Is Adani-Hindenburg Case?

The allegations made by Hindenburg Research against Madhabi Puri Buch and her husband are the latest development in a long-running saga involving the Adani Group.

In January last year, Hindenburg Research accused Adani Group of perpetrating "the largest con in corporate history" by using a web of companies in tax havens to inflate revenue and manipulate stock prices, even as debt piled up.

The report led to a sharp decline in the group's shares, wiping out over USD 150 billion in market value at their lowest point. Although most of the listed companies have since recouped their losses, the incident led to a Supreme Court-mandated investigation by Sebi and the setting up of a separate expert panel to examine regulatory lapses.

The panel did not give any adverse report on Adani and the apex court too stated that no other probe other than the one being done by Sebi was required.

Sebi last year told a Supreme Court-appointed panel that it was investigating 13 opaque offshore entities that held between 14 per cent and 20 per cent across five publicly traded stocks of the conglomerate. It hasn't stated if the two incomplete probes have since been completed.