SEBI chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch speaks during the Global Fintech Fest in Mumbai on August 29, 2024.
| Photo Credit: PTI

Anti-corruption ombudsman Lokpal has called SEBI chief Madhabi Puri Buch and also complainants, including Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra, for an “oral hearing” next month in connection with corruption complaints being heard by it, alleging impropriety and conflict of interest on the basis of a Hindenburg Research report, according to an official order.

The Lokpal on November 8 sought Ms. Buch’s “explanation” on the complaints filed by Ms. Moitra, a Lok Sabha member, and two others.

Ms. Buch, the chairperson of capital markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), was asked to submit her response within four weeks.

Hearing the case, the Lokpal said the named RPS (respondent public servant) “has filed her response by way of affidavit sworn on 07.12.2024 in time, raising preliminary issues as well as giving explanation allegation-wise”.

“Further, we deem it appropriate that the RPS as well as the complainants can be given opportunity of oral hearing to clarify their positions taken in the complaints or the affidavit, as the case may be,” says the December 19 order signed by Lokpal chairperson Justice A.M. Khanwilkar and five other members.

Accordingly, the Lokpal has asked the registry to issue notices to the RPS as well as the complainant(s) to avail of the opportunity of oral hearing on January 28.

“It will be open to the RPS as well as the complainant to authorise an advocate to espouse their cause, if they so desire at the time of oral hearing,” the order said.

The Lokpal said “it is appropriate and in the interest of justice that the complainants are provided a copy of the affidavit and documents filed by the RPS by way of response to the respective complainants and the supplementary affidavits”.

The anti-graft ombudsman asked its registry to forward a copy of Ms. Buch’s affidavit and its accompaniments to the complainants in respective complaints.

“The complainants, however, shall ensure that confidentiality of the process and the contents of the affidavit is maintained…,” the order said.

SEBI chief Buch and the complainants, “if (they) wish to rely on any reported decisions must file compilation(s) of such decisions duly paginated, well in advance and not later than 18.01.2025”, it said and listed the matter for 11:30 am on January 28.

In an order dated September 20, the Lokpal had said the complaint by the parliamentarian, alleging impropriety and conflict of interest by the SEBI chief, “falls short” of persuading it to order any probe.

The anti-corruption ombudsman’s observation came while hearing two complaints, including one by the Trinamool MP, filed on the basis of a report by the U.S.-based “activist short-seller”.

In its report, U.S.-based Hindenburg Research alleged that Ms. Buch and her husband had stakes in obscure offshore funds used in the alleged money siphoning scandal involving the Adani Group.

They denied the allegations, saying the short-seller was attacking the capital markets regulator’s credibility and attempting a character assassination.

The Adani Group had also termed Hindenburg Research’s allegations malicious and manipulation of selective public information.

In a post on social media platform X, Trinamool MP Moitra on September 13 said she had filed a complaint against the SEBI chief with the Lokpal and asserted that the anti-graft ombudsman should forward it to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) or the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for preliminary probe followed by a “full FIR enquiry”.

Without mentioning the name of the complainant, the Lokpal in its September 20 order had also sought details “regarding the efforts made by the respective complainant to verify the authenticity and credibility of the claims in the recent report of Hindenburg Research published on August 10, 2024”.

The matter was then posted for hearing on October 17 and later on November 8. A third complaint was also filed on October 14 by “yet another complainant, once again raising the same issues”, according to the Lokpal’s order of November 8.

File picture of SEBI Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch
| Photo Credit: PTI

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament has decided to review the functioning of top regulatory authorities in the country and has called heads of SEBI and TRAI for deposition on October 24.

Top officials of the Ministry of Finance, (Department of Economic Affairs) and Ministry of Communications have also been asked to appear before the key parliamentary panel, with sources saying representatives of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch and Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) chairperson Anil Kumar Lahoti are likely to appear before the panel.

ALSO READ: Madhabi Puri Buch | The regulator at the centre of a storm 

Sources said the unstated convention in parliamentary practice is that chiefs of institutions have to attend parliamentary panel briefings whenever summoned.

The meeting of the key parliamentary panel comes amid a major row over allegations made by U.S. research body Hindenburg against SEBI chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch and her husband Dhaval Buch over her alleged links with the Adani Group.

“Briefing by Audit followed by Oral evidence of the representatives of Ministry of Finance (Department of Economic Affairs) and Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on the subject, ‘Performance Review of Regulatory Bodies established by Act of Parliament’,” the official agenda for the October 24 meeting of the PAC said.

“Oral evidence of the representatives of the Ministry of Communications, Department of Telecommunications and Telecom Regulatory Authority of India on the subject, ‘Performance Review of Regulatory Bodies established by Act of Parliament’,” it also said.

The Congress had earlier in August staged a nationwide protest over allegations by Hindenburg against SEBI chief Madhabi Puri Buch and her husband Dhaval Buch, who have denied any wrongdoing.

The Congress also sought her resignation as SEBI chief.

Hindenburg in one of its reports had alleged that the Buchs owned stakes in offshore entities linked to Adani Group’s alleged financial irregularities. Hindenburg also said that 18 months after its “damning” report on Adani “SEBI has exhibited lack of interest in charges against Adani”.

The Adani Group and the Buch duo have denied the allegations.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) is the apex regulator for the securities market with a preamble that affirms its commitment “to protect the interests of investors in securities and to promote the development of, and to regulate the securities market.”

In February 2022, the Government announced the appointment of Madhabi Puri Buch, who was at the time a Whole Time Member on the SEBI board, as the first woman to head the securities markets regulator.

An Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad alumna with a graduate degree in Mathematics from St. Stephen’s College, New Delhi, Ms. Buch is also one of the youngest chiefs at SEBI, taking the helm from her predecessor in March 2022, when she was about 56.

A veteran of the investment banking and financial services industry, who at one-time headed ICICI Securities as its MD &CEO, Ms. Buch was expected to bring vital industry perspective to her job of regulating the markets and securities issuances while ensuring that investor protection was always accorded the highest priority.

A protege of N. Vaghul and subsequently K.V. Kamath during her years at ICICI, Ms. Buch even had a stint as a consultant to the Shanghai-based BRICS-established New Development Bank, which Mr. Kamath led for a while.

First test

Less than a year into her job at SEBI’s helm, Ms. Buch faced her first stern test of regulatory stewardship when, in January 2023, U.S. short-seller Hindenburg Research levelled exhaustive charges of stock price manipulation and accounting fraud against the Adani Group of companies.

With the prices of all the listed Adani Group entities nosediving in the wake of the Hindenburg allegations, hundreds of crores of investor wealth was wiped out in just a matter of a few trading sessions, sparking a series of petitions in the country’s top court seeking judicial intervention.

In early March 2023, the Supreme Court ordered the formation of a committee to look into possible regulatory failure in dealing with the allegations that the Adani Group firms flouted norms in the securities market.

Clean chit

And in May, the court-appointed panel returned a finding that it could not conclude there had been regulatory failure.

It also cited the various investigations SEBI had been conducting since as far back as October 2020 into the ownership of 13 entities tied to allegations in the Hindenburg report about minimum public shareholding, adding that the markets watchdog’s probe into the entities’ final ownership had drawn a blank.

So, when on August 10 this year Hindenburg fired a fresh salvo, this time levelling charges against Ms. Buch of conflicts of interest including having invested in a Mauritius-based offshore fund with links to the Adanis, all hell broke loose.

The SEBI Chairperson and her husband Dhaval Buch, a supply chain specialist who had served as FMCG major Unilever’s global chief procurement officer before retiring, issued two back-to-back statements in response to the short seller’s allegations seeking to clear the air.

In the first statement, the Buch couple asserted: “In the context of allegations made… against us, we would like to state that we strongly deny the baseless allegations and insinuations. 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.”

The markets watchdog, for its part, also issued an exhaustive statement on August 11 in which it emphasised that “relevant disclosures required in terms of holdings of securities and their transfers have been made by the Chairperson from time to time. Chairperson has also recused herself in matters involving potential conflicts of interest”.

People with knowledge of SEBI’s inner workings stressed that Ms. Buch had at no point in time sought to influence any of the multiple investigations being carried out by the markets watchdog.

“She can be very aggressive in her approach to getting work done and demanding results,” said a former member of one of the several committees SEBI uses in its consultative process to craft and fine tune policies and the overall regulatory environment.

“And yes, that level of abrasiveness is a clear failing. However, most of her former ICICI group colleagues appreciate and vouch for her personal integrity,” the person added, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

Ms. Buch is also facing a groundswell of internal restiveness in SEBI, with a grouping of officers questioning the “mistrust and lack of respect shown at the highest level towards employees”.

“She is facing a real media trial with the Opposition also deciding to target her to get at the government,” says a former banker. “Also, there are several regulatory measures that SEBI has taken and is planning that a group of market players are strongly opposed to. They too will be happy to see her fall,” the banker added.

Tightening norms

Among the measures tightening norms is a SEBI guideline that took effect on September 9 requiring all Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) with more than 50% global exposure to India or holding ₹25,000 crore investment in Indian equities to disclose all granular details on the ultimate beneficiary of the fund to the regulator. Failing which, the FPI would have to liquidate and rebalance its holdings to comply with the threshold specified by SEBI. And another proposal aims to tighten guidelines for derivatives trading.

“For the sake of the institution and investor faith in the markets regulator, it will, however, be best if an independent review is conducted at the earliest to clear the air on everything related to the SEBI chief,” said another former SEBI official. “This is something that will surely be in her interest too, especially given the statement asserting that her life is an “open book”,” the person added.

SEBI Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch. File
| Photo Credit: PTI

SEBI chief Madhabi Puri Buch and her husband Dhaval Buch on Friday (September 13, 2024) denied a series of allegations of impropriety and conflict of interest levelled by the Congress, saying these are “incorrect, motivated and defamatory”.

Buchs said the allegations are based on Income tax returns filed by them.

They further said all the information have been fully disclosed and taxes have been duly paid.

“Our income tax returns clearly have been obtained by adopting fraudulent means and illegally. This is a clear breach of not only our right to privacy (which is a fundamental right) but also a violation of the Income Tax Act,” Buchs said in a statement.

The Congress has recently levelled multiple allegations against SEBI chief and her husband, alleging a conflict of interest, involving a consultancy firm related to them.

The Congress had alleged that Dhaval Buch earned ₹4.78 crore from Mahindra Group at a time when the regulator was investigating it for market infractions.

According to the statement, Madhabi has never dealt with any file involving Agora Advisory, Agora Partners, the Mahindra Group, Pidilite, Dr Reddy’s, Alvarez and Marsal, Sembcorp, Visu Leasing or ICICI Bank at any stage after her joining Sebi.

“The allegations are completely false, malicious and defamatory. Madhabi has complied with all the disclosure and recusal guidelines of SEBI, and in fact, maintained a proactive continuing recusal list with SEBI over and above the requirements under the guidelines,” it added.

Madhabi Puri Buch. File
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Hindenburg Research alleged Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch of not responding to “emerging issues”, a day after the Congress alleged her of having 99% stake in a consultancy company that provided services to entities regulated by SEBI.

Foreign investors worried about market integrity, says Congress, seeking independent probe into SEBI

In its post on X, the short seller research firm said that Agora Advisory, a consultancy firm that it said was owned by Ms. Buch, provided services to listed entities including Mahindra and Mahindra, ICICI Bank, Dr. Reddy’s and Pidilite, while she was serving as a whole time member in SEBI. Similar allegations were levelled by the Congress on Tuesday (September 10, 2024) in a press briefing, which Dr. Reddy’s, Pidilite and Mahindra and Mahindra had denied in regulatory filings.

“These allegations apply to Ms. Buch’s Indian consulting entity with no details thus far on Ms. Buch’s Singapore-based consulting entity. Ms. Buch has maintained her complete silence for weeks on all of the emerging issues” Hindenburg said on September 11, in its post on X.

Also Read | On SEBI chairperson’s conflicts of interests

The Congress had claimed that Agora Advisory had continued to provide services to listed entities, contrary to an earlier statement by Ms. Buch saying the company had become dormant after she took up her role at SEBI.

In addition to this, the Congress also claimed that Ms. Buch’s spouse Dhaval Buch, was drawing income from Mahindra and Mahindra after his retirement. Mahindra and Mahindra denied these allegations.

New Delhi:

Madhabi Puri Buch, the chairperson of SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India), has not been paid any salary since her retirement, ICICI bank said today, denying Congress’s “office of profit” claims.

The Congress had alleged earlier today that Ms Buch, who joined SEBI as a member in 2017 and subsequently became its chairperson, had received Rs 16.8 crore from ICICI Bank as salary and other compensation.

“ICICI Bank or its group companies have not paid any salary or granted any ESOPs to Madhabi Puri Buch after her retirement, other than her retiral benefits. It may be noted that she had opted for superannuation with effect from October 31, 2013,” the bank said in a statement.

“During her employment with the ICICI Group, she received compensation in the form of salary, retiral benefits, bonus and ESOPs, in line with applicable policies…All the payments made to Ms. Buch post her retirement had accrued to her during her employment phase with the ICICI Group. These payments comprise ESOPs and retiral benefits,” the statement read. 

Congress’s Jairam Ramesh has claimed a conflict of interest on part of the SEBI chairperson. He said serious questions have been raised about it in the regulatory body’s Supreme Court-mandated investigations.

“These questions seem to have been simply brushed aside by the Government of India. Now comes this fresh revelation of shocking illegality,” Mr Ramesh said in a post on X.

At a press conference today, alleging conflict of interest, the Congress asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to come clean as the head of the appointments committee of the cabinet on her appointment. 

The party alleged that the total amount received by Ms Buch from ICICI from her time of joining SEBI in 2017 and till today, totals Rs 16.8 crore which is 5.09 times the income she received from SEBI during the same period — Rs 3.3 crore.

The Supreme Court, the Congress said, should take note of the fresh revelations and demanded that the SEBI chairperson be sacked immediately. 

The headquarters of the Securities and Exchange Board of India in Mumbai on April 19, 2023.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

The story so far: Over a year and a half after U.S.-based Hindenburg Research alleged corporate malfeasance, stock price manipulation and breach of minimum public shareholding norms against the Adani Group of companies, the firm issued another report late last Saturday. It argued that India’s stock market regulator, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), is reluctant to follow the trail on its charges about the use of offshore funds linked to “the Adani money siphoning scandal” because its own chairperson had a conflict of interest, having jointly invested in the same fund with her spouse.

How has SEBI responded to the charges?

SEBI Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch and her husband, Dhaval Buch, in a statement last Sunday, said their investment in the fund flagged by Hindenburg was made during their stint as “private citizens” in Singapore, and almost two years before she joined as a SEBI member in 2017. This investment was spurred by Mr. Buch’s proximity to the fund’s Chief Investment Officer, Anil Ahuja, who was a “childhood friend”, and was redeemed in 2018 when Mr. Ahuja moved on from the role. They also cited a confirmation from Mr. Ahuja that the fund in question did not invest in any bond, equity or derivative of any Adani Group firm at any time. Mr. Ahuja was also a director of Adani Enterprises till 2017. On the U.S. firm’s charges that the SEBI chief owned two consulting firms, in Singapore and India, and transferred 100% of the Singapore outfit’s shares to her spouse in March 2022, the Buchs said these firms “became immediately dormant” on her appointment with SEBI. The transfer of the Singapore entity to Mr. Buch, who was said to have used both the entities since 2019 for his “own consultancy practice” with “prominent clients in the Indian industry”, was disclosed to SEBI as well as tax authorities in India.

In a separate statement, SEBI said that relevant disclosures required in terms of holdings of securities and their transfers have been made by Ms. Buch from time to time, and she has “also recused herself in matters involving potential conflicts of interest”, ostensibly referring to charges that the SEBI chief oversaw changes to regulations for Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) while her husband was an adviser to Blackstone with interests in the asset class.

SEBI also said it has completed 23 of the 24 investigations it had undertaken against the Adani Group, under the top court’s scrutiny, and the final one is close to completion.

What about the other entities?

The Adani Group reiterated that its “overseas holding structure is fully transparent, with all relevant details disclosed regularly in numerous public documents”, and noted that Mr. Ahuja was a nominee director of 3i investment fund in Adani Power (2007-08) and, later, a director of its flagship, Adani Enterprises, until 2017. 360 One, a wealth management firm formerly known as IIFL Wealth, which managed the fund IPE Plus Fund-1, named by Hindenburg, said Ms. Buch and Mr. Buch’s holdings in the fund were less than 1.5% of its total inflows, and it had made zero investments in any shares of the Adani Group either directly or indirectly through any fund.

Have fresh questions arisen since last Sunday’s set of clarifications?

Yes. Hindenburg Research said the Buchs’ statement contains important ‘admissions’ regarding the SEBI chief’s investment in an obscure fund structure run by a person who was an Adani director at the time, confirms a “massive conflict of interest” when it comes to SEBI’s probe into funds related to the Adani Group, and raises fresh questions. On the consulting firms owned by Ms. Buch, Hindenburg pointed out that Ms. Buch only transferred her stake in Singapore-based Agora Partners Singapore to her husband “two weeks after her appointment as SEBI chairperson”, and continued to hold 99% of the Indian firm that reported revenues of about $3,12,000 over three years till this March, while she was the SEBI chief. It asked if some of Mr. Buch’s consultancy clients in these were entities that SEBI is tasked with regulating, and whether they will release a full list of such clients and details of their engagements with both the consulting firms. “Finally, will the SEBI chairperson commit to a full, transparent and public investigation into these issues?” it asked.

Also read | With no remedy for Hindenburg, SEBI seems to look the other way

There has been no response yet from SEBI or the Buchs on these issues yet, while the Finance Ministry has maintained a stoic silence on the matter. While Opposition parties have continued to question the government over these allegations, fresh reports this week suggest that more sunlight may be necessary to quell any lingering doubts about any capriciousness in the administration of India’s booming securities markets. On Friday, Reuters reported that revenues accruing to Ms. Buch from the consultancy firms during her stint in SEBI, could constitute a potential breach of a SEBI policy in place since 2008. The ‘Code on Conflict of Interests for Members of Board’ says a SEBI member shall take all steps necessary to ensure that “any conflict of interest to which he may be subject to does not affect any decision of the Board”. Moreover, a member shall disclose interests which may conflict with their duties, and a whole-time member (including the chairman) shall not hold any other office of profit, nor engage in any other professional activity, which entails receipt of salary or fees.

A separate report by The Morning Context suggested that Ms. Buch did not recuse herself from a case pertaining to a firm called Essel Propack, in which a Blackstone subsidiary had acquired a 75% stake in 2019.

What may one look out for next?

Eight months ago, the Supreme Court had exuded “confidence” in SEBI’s investigation into the allegations against the Adani Group, brought to the fore by Hindenburg early last year. While noting its power to transfer an investigation from the “authorised agency” to the CBI or constitute a Special Investigation Team, the court had said this was a rare power, to be used only if there was strong evidence on record that the investigation was prima facie tainted or biased and its continuation would lead to a “failure of justice”. One of the grounds the court had highlighted for transferring an investigation was when accusations were levelled against the “top officials of the investigating agency thereby allowing them to influence the investigation”.

Ms. Buch, the first private sector executive to lead the market watchdog, has a three-year tenure that ends next March, and is eligible for a fresh term. While more clarity on the allegations around SEBI’s administration would help clear the air, expediting the sole pending investigation into the Adani Group, and swiftly following the closure of the 24 probes with enforcement proceedings culminating in “speaking orders” put in the public domain, could be the best way forward for the market watchdog.

With inputs from T. Ashokamithran.

File picture of Madhabi Puri Buch, Chairperson of Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI)
| Photo Credit: Reuters

The chief of India’s markets regulator, Madhabi Puri Buch, who is under attack from Hindenburg Research following its accusations against the Adani Group, is renowned as a no-nonsense leader who is used to difficult situations.

The first woman at the helm of the Securities and Exchange Board of India, Ms. Buch has a tough, businesslike approach to her work, people who know her say.

On Saturday, Hindenburg alleged she had a conflict of interest in the Adani matter because of a previous investment in an offshore fund used by the Adani Group.

Ms. Buch countered saying the investments pre-date her term at SEBI and that all necessary disclosures were made.

She termed Hindenburg’s allegations as an attempt at “character assassination” following the regulator’s enforcement action and “show cause” notice to the U.S. based shortseller for violating Indian rules. A show cause notice signals an intention to take disciplinary action if satisfactory explanations are not provided.

If Ms. Buch made the requisite disclosures and met the compliance requirements, nothing more should be expected of her, said Hetal Dalal, chief operating officer at Institutional Investor Advisory Services, a proxy advisory firm in India.

“Nevertheless, the allegations made by Hindenburg have made her and SEBI vulnerable,” Ms. Dalal said. “A regulator must ring fence itself from the public onslaught.”

Demanding leader

Ms. Buch was appointed to the top post at SEBI in March 2022 after spending five years as a whole-time member, the second highest position at the regulator. She completes her three-year term in March next year.

A career banker, Ms. Buch spent her early working years at India’s second largest private lender, ICICI Bank, later heading its broking arm ICICI Securities. She also dabbled in private equity as part of the Singapore office of Greater Pacific Capital.

She is known by SEBI insiders as a demanding leader whose decisions are led by data. Ms. Buch is a frequent speaker at industry forums, armed with data-packed presentations.

She has faced pushback on a number of issues partly due to her style of operating but also because she has attempted to shake the status quo, according to industry insiders.

She has enforced stricter disclosures on corporations for related party transactions and on foreign investors for concentrated holdings in India stocks, public documents show.

She planned to lower fees for India’s $770.77 billion mutual fund industry, but the proposal was put on hold because of opposition by asset management firms, Reuters reported.

Ms. Buch was also forced to stagger the implementation of optional same day settlement for India’s stocks after opposition from foreign investors.

Most recently, she has proposed tighter rules to cool the frenzy in India’s options markets.

“Ever since Ms. Buch has taken charge as chairperson, the pace of regulatory changes has increased,” said Shriram Subramanian, founder of Ingovern Research Services, a proxy advisory firm in India.

Mr. Subramanian, however, said the changes had been done in a “consultative manner”.

Ms. Buch has faced opposition within SEBI too in her attempts to professionalise the organisation, including by raising performance targets, said five SEBI officials declining to be named as they were not authorised to speak to the media.

A few junior employees staged a ‘silent protest’ earlier this month against some of these HR policies. “There is a general sense of mistrust and discontent,” said one of the five officials.

An email sent to the SEBI spokesperson was not answered immediately. Messages and calls to Ms. Buch since Saturday were not answered. A message to her official email address went unanswered too.

Hindenburg’s allegations may prove to be Ms. Buch’s toughest challenge yet with the matter taking a political turn and opposition political parties calling for a parliamentary probe and asking her to resign.

“The integrity of SEBI, entrusted with safeguarding the wealth of small retail investors, has been gravely compromised by the allegations against its chairperson,” Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi said on social media platform X.

The government has been silent on the matter so far.

Ravi Shankar Prasad, spokesperson of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, said: “Instead of giving a response to the SEBI show cause notice, Hindenburg has issued this report, which is a baseless attack. SEBI and the family (of Buch) have responded, we don’t have anything to add to that.”

New Delhi:

Politicians and financial experts have rejected the latest report by the US-based short-seller Hindenburg Research targeting the Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) chief.

While former Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar alleged a global attempt at destabilizing the Indian economy, IMF Executive Director KV Subramanian backed the SEBI chief’s integrity.

Mr Chandrasekhar called the report an attack on the market regulator and accused the Congress of being in a “partnership” with Hindenburg.

Lets be clear – this attack on @SEBI_India by a foreign bank #Hindenburg, is an obvious partnership wth the Cong and has a ominous motive and goal.

To destabilize, discredit one of the worlds strongest financial systems and create chaos in worlds fastest growing Ecinomy ie…

— Rajeev Chandrasekhar (@RajeevRC_X) August 11, 2024

“Lets be clear – this attack on @SEBI_India by a foreign bank #Hindenburg, is an obvious partnership with the Cong and has an ominous motive and goal. To destabilize, discredit one of the world’s strongest financial systems and create chaos in world’s fastest growing Economy i.e. India. On this let there be no doubt,” he said on Twitter.

Mr Chandrasekhar said the report had the “classic Congress stye innuendo and lies glued together with a few grains of truth – aimed at discrediting regulator and causing chaos and losses in markets for investors – thus slowing down bullish sentiments.”

“I have said often and say again – Many global forces with the help of Congress dynasty want slow down or trip up India’s rise. We won’t let them,” said the former minister.

The announcement by Hindenburg that “something big” proved to be a “pathetic damp squib”, said lawyer and BJP leader Mahesh Jethmalani, adding that the aim appears to be to “destabilise India’s stock markets”.

“As regards the “big” something there is nothing new against the #Adani group. The target is now the regulator- #SEBI’s -Chairperson #MadhabiPuriBuch. SEBI had issued a notice to Hindenburg seeking information regarding the circumstances of the Adani short sale as it was entitled to. Instead of responding to these Hindenburg has chosen to attack its Chairperson on the ground of conflict of interest (more on the grounds on which the attack is based  after Ms Buch issues a detailed statement as announced; suffice it to say that the grounds are prima facie rubbish),” said Mr Jethmalani in a post on X. 

“The picture thus is one of a US based profiteer who made millions of dollars at the cost of Indian retail investors now hedging questions legitimately asked by  the Indian regulator and brazenly defaming  the latter without answering its questions,” Mr Jethmalani added. 

#Hindenburg‘s “Something big” is a pathetic damp squib, The announcement prior to its alleged big revelation itself reveals its motive: to destabilise India’s stock markets. The pre publicity ill behoves a reputed “research analyst “. As regards the “big” something there is… https://t.co/QeKNO4gEFp

— Mahesh Jethmalani (@JethmalaniM) August 11, 2024

The BJP leader attacked the “left-leaning media outlets” for going after the SEBI chairperson and urged the government of the day to pay “serious attention to these anti nationals who have no other agenda but to  disrupt  India’s social fabric, distort its polity and now devastate its economy”. 

Former Infosys CEO Mohandas Pai said that the latest Hindenburg allegations against the SEBI are rubbish and a “character assassination by a Vulture Fund.”

“Rubbish allegations aimed at sensationalism. There was a SC-monitored investigation overseen by an eminent panel and when the Vulture Fund was fully exposed, it throws mud,” Mr Pai posted on X.

Senior BJP leader Sudhanshu Trivedi too called the Hindenburg report a “conspiracy to create imbalance in India”.

VIDEO | “A report came from Hindenburg, which has been on radar of the Indian investigating agencies. The Opposition is speaking in tandem with them, they have also raised this in Parliament session. It is a conspiracy to create imbalance in India. I want to ask why these foreign… pic.twitter.com/fJ50QGW6O7

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) August 11, 2024

“I want to ask why these foreign reports come at the time of the Parliament session? I want to allege that Congress leaders knew that the report was coming. It is clear that the Opposition wants to create imbalance in India,” said the Rajya Sabha MP.

Deepak Shenoy, the founder-CEO of Capitalmind – a portfolio management service, feels the Hindenburg report has gone into “sensationalism”, but there’s “hardly any substance”.

Someone’s already short and gonna cover their shorts after releasing a mostly sensational and some fact oriented report, and if you’re wondering who the Patsy is, it’s you 🙂

Facts like oh he had dinner with this guy twice so we should consider both of them promoters.

— Deepak Shenoy (@deepakshenoy) August 10, 2024

“Someone’s already short and gonna cover their shorts after releasing a mostly sensational and some fact oriented report, and if you’re wondering who the Patsy is, it’s you 🙂 Facts like oh he had dinner with this guy twice so we should consider both of them promoters,” he said on X.

“You can’t refute this. If you do, you’ll be called a crony or whatever. Some brokers will be told to advise their customers to sell. Uncle will cover his shorts. Trp goes up. GDP goes up. Good for everyone. Break a window and replace it is good for GDP. 🙂 I think it’s good though cos it will be educative, in whatever little facts and all the entertainment, and then perhaps some good opportunities come our way,” added Mr Shenoy.

KV Subramanian, former chief economic adviser of India, vouched for the “unimpeachable integrity” of SEBI boss Madhabi Puri Buch and said that the report lacked intellectual rigour.

I’ve personally known SEBI Chairperson Madhabi for about two decades. Given her unimpeachable integrity and her intellectual prowess, I’m sure she will shred to smithereens this Hindenberg hit job.
In this wonderful thread by @BhagwaanUvacha on the report, the bottom line is in… https://t.co/yYuOkRLZuX

— Prof. Krishnamurthy V Subramanian (@SubramanianKri) August 11, 2024

“I’ve personally known SEBI Chairperson Madhabi for about two decades. Given her unimpeachable integrity and her intellectual prowess, I’m sure she will shred to smithereens this Hindenberg hit job,” said Mr Subramanian, who is now an Executive Director with the International Monetary Fund.

“While I’ve not read the report, I’ve read this wonderful thread by @BhagwaanUvacha. The bottom line is in this tweet, which demonstrates clearly that the report lacks intellectual rigour and was a hit job. I’m not surprised about the lack of intellectual rigour…” said the top economist.

Tax Compaas founder Ajay Rotti called the Hindenburg report “an attempt to get the Indian markets to tank at any cost.”

The #Hindenburg report is clearly an attempt to get the Indian markets to tank at any cost. What exactly a short seller gains from!

While the screenshots and letters/emails appear as proof or strong evidence, the Hindenburg report actually lack substance and has a silly…

— Ajay Rotti (@ajayrotti) August 11, 2024

“This report has been published just to divert attention from scrutiny of Hindenburg themselves and their short trade…. the report calls the SEBI show cause to them as “apparent show cause notice”,” said Mr Roti on X. He further said it was a desperate effort to bring India markets down and create uncertainty, doubt and panic amongst its investors – both domestic and foreign.

Madhabi Puri Buch and her husband Dhaval had earlier in the day denied the report and called it an attempted “character assassination” in response to the SEBI’s July action against Hindenburg.

The Adani Group, too, in an exchange filing, has rejected the report as “recycled claims” that were earlier “proven baseless and dismissed by the Supreme Court.”

(Disclaimer: New Delhi Television is a subsidiary of AMG Media Networks Limited, an Adani Group Company.)

Madhabi Puri Buch, chairperson of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), said that she has a “long list of colleagues” who have found her very difficult to work with. Ms Buch, the first woman to head the share market regulator, was speaking at the annual convocation of the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Ahmedabad on Saturday.

Addressing the students, Ms Buch, who was invited as the chief guest at the convocation ceremony, said, “I have a long list of colleagues as well as bosses who will testify to the fact that I am not only a very difficult boss to work with but an almost impossible subordinate to work with because I just won’t give up. Until a problem has been dissected to the last degree, I will not give up.”

Explaining why her colleagues feel so, the SEBI chief added, “My colleagues often tell me that problem-solving with me is like peeling an onion. It makes everybody cry in the process. But by the time you are done, peeling layer after layer after layer of the onion, you suddenly realise there is no problem left.”

Ms Buch also shared that she abides by the mantra of doing what is right, “no matter how hard”. She said that she leaves no stone unturned, irrespective of how hard the problem is.

She added, “I believe that at a conscious and a subconscious level, my mantra has been very very simple. Do the right thing, no matter how hard. Leave no stone unturned, no matter how hard. The wonderful thing about this mantra is that eight times out of ten you actually succeed. And the two times that you don’t, you have absolutely no regret.”

She elaborated that each graduate would discover their own guiding mantra, serving as their innate “default setting” to effortlessly navigate their path ahead.

“And until you find that mantra, it is as though you have a quiver full of arrows, some sharp, some not so sharp. And as you aim for the goals that you choose, you may find that your sharp arrows were perfectly well, wonderful, or that you need to sharpen some of your arrows,” Ms Buch added.