The report of the Supreme Court-appointed expert committee said SEBI has not been able to determine the ownership of 13 overseas entities under investigation since 2020, adding it is caught in a “chicken and egg situation”.
By Aneesha Mathur, Nalini SharmaNo pattern of artificial trading was found with the stocks of the Adani group, according to the report submitted before the Supreme Court by the expert committee in the Adani-Hindenburg case.
The panel also said SEBI has not been able to determine the ownership of 13 overseas entities under investigation since 2020, and it is caught in a “chicken and egg situation”.
The committee said 849 automated “suspicious” alerts were generated by the systems regarding Adani stocks.
“These 849 alerts were considered by the stock exchanges and four reports were filed before SEBI — two before the Hindenburg report and two after,” the court-appointed committee said.
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The committee informed the court that it tried to contact several international security firms to discuss the Adani-Hindenburg issue.
“None of the international security firms and banks were desirous of engaging with the committee,” the panel’s report said.
Few of them cited conflict of interest owing to commercial relationships with the Adani Group, the committee told the court.
“Goldman Sachs suggested that the committee may profit from engaging with the Asia Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, an industry body, which too disclaimed any expertise or ability to contribute to the committee,” it stated.
On Wednesday, the Supreme Court granted SEBI an extension till August 14 to investigate the Adani-Hindenburg case. A bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud, told the market regulator that the court had earlier granted two months for the investigation, but now it gave a three-month extension.
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On Monday, SEBI informed the Supreme Court that any incorrect or premature conclusion of its investigation into the Adani Group’s possible lapses of regulatory disclosures could hamper justice.
The investigation is related to a report published by US short-seller Hindenburg Research, which raised several governance concerns around the Adani Group, and accused it of fraud and stock manipulation.
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