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BJP Slams Rahul Gandhi For 'Seeding Doubt' About Indian Stock Markets
The Leader of Opposition is now openly encouraging and putting the doubt about the truthness of the Indian stock markets,” BJP’s Amit Malviya said.
BJP Slams Rahul Gandhi :The BJP today slammed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for raising questions on the integrity of Indian stock markets based on the latest allegations by US-based short seller Hindenburg.
“The Leader of Opposition is now openly encouraging and putting a doubt about the genuineness of the Indian stock markets. This evident attempt to undermine confidence in our economy reveals the true intention of Rahul Gandhi, which is nothing but the collapsation of India,” BJP leader Amit Malviya said in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
He said that Mr Gandhi’s remarks come in spite of the expert committee appointed by the Supreme Court finishing there was no regulatory failure about the the allegations of price manipulation made by Hindenburg.“On Jan 3, 2024, the Supreme Court, led by CJI DY Chandrachud, observed that no purposeful or knowing to the breaking were done by SEBI,” Mr Malviya said.Rahul Gandhi had supposed that there was on particular important risk in the Indian stock markets and that the “integrity” of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) was “gravely compromised” by the argument against its chairperson.
The new Hindenburg report claimed that SEBI Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch and her husband Dhaval Buch had stakes in offshore entities involved in the supposed to Adani money siphoning scandal.The SEBI Chairman and the Adani Group, anyway , have labelled these arguments as “baseless” and “malicious”. Madhabi Puri Buch has also pointed out that the latest release by Hindenburg comes after SEBI took carrying out that the action and issued a show-cause notice to them in July.
As Sensex, Nifty 50 open lower, Adani stocks fall after Hindenburg’s weekend strike
As the stock market opened lower on Monday, Adani Group stocks fell after the US-based Hindenburg Research alleged that the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch had links to the Adani Group.
The NSE Nifty 50 index was down 0.36% at 24,278.6, as of 9:22 am, and the S&P BSE Sensex shed 0.34% to 79,427.67, news agency Reuters reported.
Hindenburg Research on Saturday alleged that Buch and her husband had stakes in obscure offshore funds used in the Adani money siphoning scandal. The short-seller alleged that the couple invested in Global Dynamic Opportunities Fund (GDOF), in which Vinod Adani, brother of Gautam Adani, had invested. Buch has denied the allegations.
All 10 Adani group stocks declined in early trade, including Adani Green Energy, Adani Total Gas and Adani Power. In the Nifty 50, Adani Enterprises and Adani Ports were among the biggest laggards on Monday morning.
Analysts repeated by press associations have suggested that these claim will not have any major suggestions for the Indian market as a whole and that any knee-jerk reaction will be short-lived.challenge the arguments , Buch and her husband, in a joint statement on Sunday, said, “The investment in the fund referred to in the Hindenburg report was made in 2015 when they were both private citizens living in Singapore and nearly 2 years before Madhabi joined Sebi, even as a Whole Time Member.”
They added that “all declarations and with draw have been actively followed, including announcements of all securities held or subsequently transferred.”Sebi backed its chairperson, expressing that applicable declarations are required in terms of holdings of securities and their moves have been made by the Chairperson from time to time. “Chairperson has also removed herself in matters involving their possible decent of interest,” the regulator added.
Hindenburg to Madhabi Buch: 'Husband's clients include those Sebi is tasked with regulating?’
In a new allegation, Hindenburg questioned what other investments or business ventures the SEBI Chairperson might have conducted through her husband’s name.
American short-seller Hindenburg Research on Sunday said that Sebi chairperson Madhabi Buch’s response to its report raised numerous new explanatory questions. The firm, which has charge with the Buch-led market regulator of not feel around its declarations against on the Adani Group because Buch had support in the corporations offshore funds, alleged a “massive disagreement of interest” on the part of the Sebi chief.
Chairperson of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) Madhabi Puri Buch.
Reacting to Madhabi Buch and her husband Dhaval Buch’s had together statement, the US-based firm asked if the Sebi chief’s consulting clients include those Sebi is tasked with regulating.
In a late-night series of posts on X, Hindenburg claimed Buch had confirmed with her response to the firm’s declaration that the offshore fund was run by her husband Dhaval Buch’s childhood friend, a director in the Adani Group.
“SEBI Chairperson Madhabi Buch’s response to our report includes some important admissions and to increase the many new analytical questions. Buch’s response now publicly confirms her investment in an unclear to Bermuda/Mauritius fund structure, by way of money allegedly siphoned by Vinod Adani. She also committed the fund was run by a childhood friend of her husband, who at the time was an Adani director,” it said.
“SEBI was tasked with look into the investment funds relating to the Adani matter, which would include funds Ms. Buch was personally invested the funds by the same sponsor which were particularly focus on our original report. This is clearly a very large disagreement of interest,” it added.
The research firm has highlighted several concerns about Madhabi Puri Buch, the SEBI Chairperson. According to their findings, Buch set up two consulting firms, including one based in India and another in Singapore, which became inactive when she joined SEBI in 2017. Her husband, Dhaval Buch, took over operations in 2019, but the firms remain under her ownership. Hindenburg Research has noted that despite Buch’s claims of having no involvement, the Singaporean entity remained under her full ownership until March 16, 2022, and she only transferred her shares to her husband shortly after becoming SEBI Chairperson. This has raised suspicions, especially since whistleblower documents suggest she used her personal email to conduct business through her husband’s name while serving as a SEBI Whole Time Member.
The report also alleges that Buch made sure any accounts related to Adani were registered in her husband’s name before her appointment as SEBI Chairperson and suggests that she continued to manage these stakes through her husband’s name during her tenure.
In response, Madhabi Puri Buch and her husband Dhaval have issued a statement rejecting these claims. They argue that Hindenburg Research is undermining SEBI’s credibility. They assert that their investments in a fund managed by IIFL Wealth Management were made while they were private citizens and well before Madhabi joined SEBI. The Buchs state that the investments were made on the advice of Dhaval’s childhood friend, Anil Ahuja, and that the fund did not invest in any Adani Group securities.
Regarding Dhaval’s role at Blackstone, they clarify that his appointment was based on his expertise in supply chain management and was made prior to Madhabi’s appointment at SEBI. They also emphasize that Dhaval has no involvement with Blackstone’s real estate sector and that immediately after his appointment, Blackstone was added to Madhabi’s recusal list at SEBI.
Finally, the Buchs state that their consulting firms became inactive when Madhabi joined SEBI and that her shareholding was duly disclosed to the regulatory body.Anyway , it also added that on Dhaval’s retirement from Unilever, he started a consultancy practice during at the same companies and worked for important clients in India.Linking the earnings in the consultancy companies to Madhabi’s current government salary is “malicious”, the statement added.
In the report, Hindenburg claims that Madhabi “currently” has a 99 per cent ownership in an Indian consulting business called Agora Advisory where her husband is a director.“When the shares of the Singaporean company were transferred to Dhaval, this transfer was not only disclosed to SEBI but also reported to both the Singaporean authorities and the Indian tax authorities,” the statement said.
Political blowsto over Hindenburg declarations
The Congress and other INDIA association parties have demanded Madhabi Buch’s resignation as the Sebi chief. The BJP, on the other hand, charge with the Opposition of being a part of a scheme to create a financial unstable in India.
The Opposition has also demanded a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) analysis into the allegations.