The Department of Economic Affairs Secretary Ajay Seth said that the government has nothing to add at this point in regards to Hindenburg’s report on Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch. The US-based short-seller claimed that Buch and her husband had stakes in obscure offshore funds used in the Adani money siphoning scandal.
DEA Secretary Ajay Seth told Business Today TV: “SEBI and SEBI Chairperson have already given their statements. There is nothing more that the government would like to add.”
This comment comes after Madhabi Puri Buch and her husband, Dhaval Buch, issued a point-by-point rebuttal of Hindenburg’s report. The Buchs said that the investment in the fund that Hindenburg is referring to is from 2015, when both were private citizens, and almost 2 years prior to Madhabi Puri Buch’s appointment even as a whole-time director of SEBI. They said that they had invested in the fund because the CIO Anil Ahuja was a childhood friend, and once he left the fund in 2018, they redeemed their investment. The fund in question did not at any point invest in any bond, equity or derivative of the Adani group, they said.
They also clarified that the two companies set up by Madhabi Puri Buch in India and Singapore became “immediately dormant” upon her appointment in SEBI. Dhaval Buch who had retired from his private job in 2019 started his consultancy services with these two companies. The shareholding of these two companies was moved to Dhaval Buch, and was appropriately informed to SEBI, the Singaporean authorities and the Indian tax authorities.
In response, Hindenburg said that their statement admits many of Hindenburg’s concerns and questions. It said: “Per its latest shareholding list as of March 31st, 2024, Agora Advisory Limited (India), is still 99% owned by Madhabi Buch, not her husband. This entity is currently active and generating consulting revenue. Furthermore, Buch remained a 100% shareholder of Agora Partners Singapore until March 16th, 2022, per Singaporean records, owning it during her entire time as a SEBI Whole Time Member. She only transferred her shares into her husband’s name 2 weeks after her appointment as SEBI Chairperson.”
“Buch said her husband used the consulting entities starting in 2019 to transact with unnamed “prominent clients in the Indian industry”. Do these include clients SEBI is tasked with regulating? Buch’s statement promised a “commitment to complete transparency”. Given this, will she publicly release the full list of consulting clients and details of the engagements, both through the offshore Singaporean consulting firm, the Indian consulting firm and any other entity she or her husband may have an interest in? Finally, will the SEBI Chairperson commit to a full, transparent and public investigation into these issues?” said Hindenburg, posing new questions.
Hindenburg Research in its new report, citing whistleblower documents, allegedly linked SEBI chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch, her husband Dhaval, and certain offshore entities involved in the Adani money movement case. The report suggests that Buch and her husband may have opened an account with IPE Plus Fund 1 on June 5, 2015, in Singapore. The fund is reportedly registered in Mauritius, a tax haven. On March 22, 2017, just weeks before Madhabi Buch was appointed SEBI chairperson, Dhaval Buch allegedly wrote to the Mauritius fund administrator, requesting he be the sole person authorised to operate the accounts, potentially moving the assets out of his wife’s name ahead of her appointment. The report also mentions Agora Partners Pte Ltd, registered in Singapore on March 27, 2013, with Madhabi Buch listed as the 100% shareholder until March 16, 2022. It suggests that due to the political sensitivity, she may have transferred her stake to her husband.
Buch has dismissed the allegations as 'baseless' and an attempt at 'character assassination.' In a joint statement, the couple expressed their willingness to disclose all financial records.
“Hindenburg has been served a show cause notice for a variety of violations in India. It is unfortunate that instead of replying to the show cause notice, they have chosen to attack the credibility of the SEBI and attempt character assassination of the SEBI chairperson,” the Buchs said.