“SEBI Concludes Investigation into 22 out of 24 Adani Group Transactions; Supreme Court Review Scheduled”

SEBI, the capital market regulator, informed the Supreme Court on August 25 that in the process of investigation into whether or not billionaire, Gautam Adani’s company violated securities laws was finished and in some cases, action had been advised for passing orders.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) said it had investigated 24 transactions relating to the Adani group listed undertakings, of which 22 are final. While the findings are not outlined, SEBI said that it will take action based on them. On August 29th, the Supreme Court is scheduled to take up the case. It added that, “As a result of the investigations, SEBI shall take measures in accordance with their findings.” Last August 14, SEBI moved the Supreme Court for 15 more days to submit a report on Adani Group’s investigation, claiming that its investigations in 17 out of 24 transactions it took over have come to an end.

After the US Based Hindenburg Research pointed out several governance concerns, many of the listed companies in the group suffered from market value losses as high as $100 billion earlier this year. The group has denied any impropriety. After this, the Supreme Court ordered SEBI to examine these claims and present its findings before a six member committee of former judges and veteran bankers that was set up in March.

The Supreme Court in May granted Sebi an extension till August 14 for the completion of its investigation. However, this extension does not exceed the period of six months requested by the market regulator for completion of the investigation. Hindenburg claimed in January that the ports-to-power conglomerate based in Ahmedabad engaged in “brazen stock manipulation and accounting fraud.” The Adani group has angrily refuted these claims and called Hindenburg’s claim “a calculated attack on India.”

In addition, shares of the top 10 Adani companies fell by as much as 4 percent at dawn on August 14th with flagships Adani Enterprises and Adani Ports taking the biggest hit out of Nifty50 stocks for nearly four percent loss.