Well-known US activist investor Hindenburg Research has alleged that Adani Group was "engaged in a brazen stock manipulation and accounting fraud", a charge the conglomerate described as malicious, unsubstantiated, one-sided, and having done with malafide intention to ruin its share-sale. Hindenburg, a US-based investment research firm that specialises in activist short-selling, said its two-year investigation reveals that "the Rs 17.8 trillion ($218 billion) Indian conglomerate Adani Group has engaged in a brazen stock manipulation and accounting fraud scheme over the course of decades." The report comes ahead of a Rs 20,000 crore follow-on share sale of Adani Group's flagship Adani Enterprises.
Sebi imposed trading restrictions on 33 entities.
The Supreme Court has agreed to hear on Friday a plea seeking a direction to the Centre to constitute a committee monitored by a retired apex court judge to inquire and investigate into the Hindenburg Research report which has made a slew of allegations against the business conglomerate led by industrialist Gautam Adani.
Adani Enterprises on Wednesday said it has decided to withdraw its fully subscribed Rs 20,000-crore follow-on public offer (FPO) and will return the proceeds to investors. The announcement came a day after the company's FPO was subscribed fully on the last day of the offer on Tuesday. "The Board of Adani Enterprises Ltd., (AEL) decided not to go ahead with the fully subscribed FPO.
Hindenburg Research has alleged that Adani Group was "engaged in a brazen stock manipulation and accounting fraud", a charge the conglomerate described as malicious, unsubstantiated, one-sided, and having done with malafide intention to ruin its share-sale.
George Soros, who is in the eye of the storm over his remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the Adani issue, is an Hungarian-born American financier, philanthropist, and activist whose success as an investor made him one of the wealthiest men in the world. He is also known as a powerful and influential supporter of liberal social causes. In a speech at the Munich Security Conference on Thursday, the billionaire philanthropist said he believes the turmoil at Gautam Adani's business empire may weaken Prime Minister Narendra Modi's hold on the government, a statement which was strongly contested by the BJP as an attack on Indian democracy.
Shares of Adani Group firms continued to remain weak for the seventh day running on Friday amid a host of negative events surrounding the companies. The stock of Adani Enterprises tumbled 20 per cent to Rs 1,173.55 -- its one-year low -- on the BSE. Shares of Adani Ports tanked 10 per cent, Adani Transmission (10 per cent), Adani Green Energy (10 per cent), Adani Power (5 per cent), Adani Total Gas (5 per cent), Adani Wilmar (4.99 per cent), NDTV (4.98 per cent), ACC (4.24 per cent) and Ambuja Cements (3 per cent).
With intermittent disruptions in the supply chain of raw materials from China, the Indian pharma industry has braced itself with bigger inventory. Even smaller drug makers are now carrying a month of buffer stock of key raw materials, said industry insiders. The lockdown in various Chinese provinces, including Shanghai, is likely to delay shipments by two weeks to a month, said domestic players. Shipments are critical for the Indian drug industry, which imports 70 per cent of its raw material from China.
Before resigning as an auditor of an Adani Group firm, Deloitte had sought an independent external examination of allegations made by a US short-seller but the company said the allegations had no effect on financial statements and the reasons cited for quitting were not convincing to warrant such a move. In a 163-page filing with stock exchanges relating to Deloitte Haskins & Sells LLP's resignation, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) said that in meetings with its leadership, Deloitte indicated concern over a lack of a wider audit role as auditors of other listed Adani companies. However, the firm conveyed to the auditor that it was not within its remit to recommend such appointments as other entities are "completely independent".
A common factor that binds all these men is greed.
Adani Group on Monday said that the promoters will pre-pay $1,114 million for the release of pledged shares of its firms ahead of the maturity in September 2024. These shares belong to Adani Ports & Special Economic Zones, Adani Green Energy and Adani Transmission, a statement said. "This is in continuation of promoters' assurance to pre-pay all share-backed financing," it said.
Most of these alleged tax evaders hail from Kolkata, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Surat, and Delhi.
A small Ahmedabad-based chartered accountancy firm, whose appointment was questioned by a US short seller in its scathing report against the conglomerate run by billionaire Gautam Adani, has resigned due to "pre-occupation", Adani Total Gas Ltd said. Hindenburg Research in its January 24 report that levelled allegations of fraud, stock manipulation and money laundering against the Adani group, had also raised the issue of the size and capability of the firms auditing the conglomerate. Adani group has repeatedly denied all allegations.
Black money is because of P Notes, hawala and variety of other reasons.
S&P Global Ratings on Tuesday said there will not be any significant direct financial spillover risks because of the problems being faced by the Adani group, though there can be some secondary impact such as banks undertaking extra due diligence while giving loans to corporate. S&P senior director (infrastructure & utilities ratings), Abhishek Dangra said as per external estimates, the exposure of the banking sector to Adani group companies is less than 1 per cent and also the credit ratings of the firms are not at 'distress level'.
Most of the individuals hail from Mumbai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Surat, and Delhi
These entities have facilitated illicit transactions worth thousands of crores of rupees over the past 2-3 years
Several Ahmedabad-based stock brokers are playing a key role in arranging dummy investors. The 'investors' apply for their full quota of shares. After allotment, they transfer the shares to the accounts of the brokers fronting for the operators in exchange for a 2.5 per cent commission.
In a boost to the embattled Adani Group, Mauritian Financial Services Minister Mahen Kumar Seeruttun has told the nation's Parliament that Hindenburg Research's allegations of the presence of 'shell' companies in the Island nation are 'false and baseless' and that Mauritius was in compliance with OECD-mandated tax rules. US short seller Hindenburg on January 24 alleged that billionaire Gautam Adani used shell companies based in Mauritius to manipulate stock prices of his Indian-listed companies.
Blaming the nominal inflow of household savings into stock market on lack of confidence of retail investors, a Joint Parliamentary Committee has recommended strict accountability by listed companies through certification by their chief executives.
Nultiple regulators are probing the nexus of scamsters with diamonds after a state-run bank got defrauded of $1.8 billion by designer jeweller Nirav Modi.
Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) on Monday said it has an exposure of Rs 36,474.78 crore to Adani group's debt and equity, and the amount is less than one per cent of the national insurer's total investments.
Billionaire Gautam Adani's embattled conglomerate said its balance sheet is "very healthy" and is laser focused on continuing business momentum, as it looked to reassure investors to keep faith in the conglomerate despite a share rout triggered by a damning report by a US short-seller. Group CFO Jugeshinder (Robbie) Singh in an earnings call said the group is confident of its internal controls, compliance and corporate governance. Separately, it released a compendium of group companies to highlight that it has adequate cash reserves and has ability to refinance debt.
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Trading activities of 26 entities, including Gitanjali Gems promoter Mehul Choksi and firms linked to Prime Broking, were suspended on Thursday by market regulator Sebi and the bourses, as part of a probe into suspected market manipulations.
The presence of the Egyptian company in India would not be in national interest as the entity could gain access to "our ICT assets and enhance the capabilities of our adversaries in gathering intelligence", said the report.
Embattled Adani group has appointed accountancy firm Grant Thornton for an independent audit of some of its companies in a bid to come clean of the damning allegations levelled by the US short-seller Hindenburg Research and to assure investors and regulators. Sources said the audit is primarily to show to regulators like the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) that the group has nothing to hide and it is in compliance with relevant laws. The audit will specifically look into if there was any misappropriation or repatriation of funds and if loans were used for any purpose other than the one they were intended for.
Operator syndicate could be behind stock hammering, suspects regulator.
One of the Rajus, chairman of non-banking finance company Nagarjuna Finance, K S Raju, was arrested for defaulting on repayments of public deposits worth around Rs 100 crore (Rs 1 billion).
Strengthening of rules governing insider trading is among the key proposals in the agenda set by Sebi for 2018-19, along with making improvement to the Prohibition of Insider Trading Regulations (PIT) and Prohibition of Fraudulent and Unfair Trade Practices regulations.
For more than a decade, sockpuppets - some of them being company employees - created 'puffery' around tycoon Gautam Adani, his family and the apples-to-airport group he helmed by adding non-neutral material and removing warnings from information on Wikipedia, the free internet-based encyclopedia has alleged. Adani, a first-generation entrepreneur, has lost over $70 billion in net worth and slipped to 25th rank on the world billionaire index from being Asia's richest and the world's third most wealthy businessman, in less than a month. This followed US short-seller Hindenburg Research accusing the group of accounting fraud, stock price manipulation and money laundering, allegations that the conglomerate has repeatedly denied, and threatened legal action.
CBI has made substantial progress in the investigation into the NSE co-location case where markets regulator Sebi has found violations of norms by the stock exchange as well as some of its former top level employees, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Tuesday. The government and Sebi have received some complaints in the matter of NSE co-location. In a written reply to Rajya Sabha, the minister said that during the investigation into the matter, it was noticed that certain stock brokers got preferential access to the trading system.
I-T department is investigating 20 listed companies suspected to have falsely claimed long-term capital gains tax exemption
Given the hydrogen connection, it's ironic that Hindenburg Research released a long report, accusing the Adani group of financial manipulation, observes Devangshu Datta.
Private-equity funds made an average annual return of just 7 per cent between January 2007 and December 2013 while the Sensex was up 11 per cent.
The markets regulator made it easier for banks to acquire control in listed companies.
French energy giant TotalEnergies SE's $300 million investment in clean energy projects of Adani Green Energy Ltd has taken the total investments poured in by global investors in India's largest renewable power producer to $1.63 billion or about Rs 14,000 crore, sources close to the company said. Last week, Total announced it will hold a 50 per cent stake in the new joint venture firm where Adani Green Energy Ltd (AGEL) will hold the rest. The joint venture will hold a portfolio of 1,050 MW, including 300 MW of already operational capacity, 500 MW under construction and 250 MW under-development assets with a blend of solar and wind power.
Higher levy on dividends earned by individuals also on radar.
US short seller Hindenburg Research has rejected Adani Group's charge that its report was an attack on India, saying a "fraud" cannot be obfuscated by nationalism or a bloated response that ignored response to key allegations. Commenting on the 413-page response Adani Group released late on Sunday evening in response to its report, Hindenburg said it believed India was a vibrant democracy and an emerging superpower with an exciting future and it was Adani Group which was holding it back through "systematic loot". Hindenburg stood by its last week's report that said its two-year investigation found Adani Group "engaged in a brazen stock manipulation and accounting fraud scheme over the course of decades".
Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday visited an exhibition of the Communist Party, appearing in public for the first time after his return from the SCO summit on September 16, which sparked rumours about his absence from the limelight ahead of next month's key Congress of the ruling party.
