Shares of the Adani Group's seven listed companies lost around $130 in terms of their market valuation since Hindenburg Research's report was published on January 24. 
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Shares of the Adani Group's seven listed companies lost around $130 in terms of their market valuation since Hindenburg Research's report was published on January 24. MSCI ESG Research on Friday said it has recently changed some of its environmental, social and governance assessments of Adani Group entities. The rating agency said that it has downgraded the assessment of the Hindenburg-related controversy cases to 'moderate' from 'minor'.
"On March 3, we downgraded our assessment of the Hindenburg-related controversy cases to 'moderate' from 'minor' following new developments in the relevant cases," MSCI ESG Research said in a statement.
The rating agency added that the downgrade and resulting score changes did not lead to any changes in the overall ESG Ratings of each company.
Entities rated by MSCI ESG Research include Adani Green Energy, Adani Power, Adani Total Gas, Adani Transmission and Adani Enterprises, according to the statement.
This week, MSCI ESG Research flagged all its covered Adani Group entities for the metric of accounting investigations, while some were flagged for the securities valuations metric, the statement said.
The ratings were tweaked on the back of the recent controversy involving the ports-to-power conglomerate after US-based short seller Hindenburg Research came out with a damning report accusing the Adani Group of stock manipulation and improper use of tax havens and flagged concerns over debt levels. Adani has rejected the concerns and denied any wrongdoing.
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Shares of the Adani Group's seven listed companies lost around $130 in terms of their market valuation after Hindenburg Research's report was published on January 24.
MSCI's ESG Controversies scoring and flagging system alerts investors to potential reputational risks, which is clearly shown in a factsheet produced by the agency. “Across various Adani Group entities, MSCI ESG Research has identified issues relating to governance, board independence, related party transactions, and controlling shareholders,” the company said.
Since the Hindenburg report was released, MSCI ESG Research has added "Bribery and Fraud" and "Governance Structures" controversy cases to all Adani Group companies in its coverage, it said.
On Friday, MSCI ESG Research said on it was closely monitoring developments in the Adani case, "including any associated potential launch of regulator-driven investigations or any ongoing developments related to governance structures, audit and accounting practices".
In February, sustainability ratings company Sustainalytics downgraded corporate governance-related scores for some Adani Group companies.
Adani Group, according to Reuters, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Elsewhere, Gautam Adani and his family have prepaid all borrowings backed by his conglomerate Adani Group's shares, senior executives told investors at a meeting in London, Bloomberg News said.
The investor meeting was part of a worldwide roadshow launched by the conglomerate aimed at reassuring investors that the conglomerate's finances are under control.
Adani Group has lined up roadshows in several American cities till March 15 as part of its efforts to rebuild investor confidence.
(With agency inputs)
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