In January 2023, Hindenburg published a report accusing the Adani Group of financial irregularities, leading to a significant drop in the company's stock price.
In a recent report, US short-seller Hindenburg Research claimed that the SEBI Chairperson had a stake in obscure offshore entities involved in the Adani money siphoning scandal. This fresh charge comes after a January 2023 study by Hindenburg Research that had earlier charged the Adani Group of financial irregularities and caused a sharp decline in the stock price of the business.
Madhabi Puri Buch and her husband accused Hindenburg Research, against whom SEBI has taken enforcement action, of character assassination. In the joint statement released to the media they said, "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. 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."
The Hindenburg report alleges, “The current SEBI Chairperson and her husband, Dhaval Buch, had hidden stakes in the exact same obscure offshore Bermuda and Mauritius funds, found in the same complex nested structure, used by Vinod Adani.”
Earlier on Saturday, US short seller Hindenburg had alleged, "We had previously noted Adani's total confidence in continuing to operate without the risk of serious regulatory intervention, suggesting that this may be explained through Adani's relationship with SEBI Chairperson, Madhabi Buch."
"What we hadn't realized: the current SEBI Chairperson and her husband, Dhaval Buch, had hidden stakes in the exact same obscure offshore Bermuda and Mauritius funds, found in the same complex nested structure, used by Vinod Adani," the report by the US hedge firm said.
Hindenburg Research said it has made the new allegations based on documents provided by a whistleblower and investigations carried out by other entities. "Madhabi Buch and her husband Dhaval Buch first appear to have opened their account with IPE Plus Fund 1 on June 5, 2015, in Singapore, per whistleblower documents. A declaration of funds, signed by a principal at IIFL states that the source of the investment is "salary" and the couple's net worth is estimated at USD 10 million," the report stated.
In January 2023, Hindenburg published a report accusing the Adani Group of financial irregularities, leading to a significant drop in the company's stock price. The group at the time had rubbished these claims. The Hindenburg report alleged stock manipulation and fraud by the conglomerate.
The case is related to the allegations (part of a report by Hindenburg Research) that Adani had inflated its share prices. After these allegations were published, there was a sharp fall in the shares of various Adani group companies' stocks, reportedly to the tune of over USD 100 billion.
The US short seller's report in January was published two days before a USD 2.5 billion follow-up public offering was issued by Adani Enterprises. The Adani group has repeatedly denied all the accusations in the Hindenburg Research report.
Who is Madhabi Puri Buch?
Madhabi Puri Buch graduated from St Stephen's College of Delhi University before earning an MBA degree from the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) in Ahmedabad.
She then joined the ICICI Group where she had a 17-year-long career, reaching the post of an executive director at ICICI Bank in a 12-year stint and leading ICICI Securities as MD and CEO for over two years from February 2009 to May 2011. She has also had stints with ICICI Web Trade Ltd and ICICI HFC Ltd.
She then joined Greater Pacific Capital LLP as head of the country in Singapore in 2011, before going on to be founder-director of Agora Advisory Pvt Ltd, and also worked with Shanghai’s New Development Bank for 3 years.
She also held non-executive director role in several major firms -- Idea Cellular (from 2011 to 2017), Max Healthcare, Zansar Technologies, Innoven Capital, and Gabelhorn Investments.
Her appointment as Chairperson of SEBI has initially been confirmed for a period of 3 years by the Appointments Committee of Cabinet. Appointment shortlists for positions at market and financial regulators are made by the Financial Sector Regulatory Appointments Search Committee (FSRASC), which are presided over by a cabinet secretary. The maximum term for a SEBI chief is 5 years or the age of 65.
(with inputs from ANI)
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