Supreme Court panel gives clean chit to Adani Group
What's the story
The Supreme Court-appointed panel investigating Hindenburg Research's allegations against Adani Group stated on Friday that no pricing manipulation by the conglomerate has been found at this point.
There has been no violation by the group, and it is not possible to conclude that there was any regulatory failure on the side of the market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), it said.
Context
Why does this story matter?
The apex court had appointed a special committee after United States-based short-seller Hindenburg Research, in its report, alleged stock market manipulation, fraud, and improper use of offshore entities against Adani Group.
Shares of the group dropped by $150 billion within weeks following the report.
Furthermore, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been accused of being in cohorts with the conglomerate.
Twitter Post
At this point, no price manipulation by conglomerate found: Panel
Supreme Court appointed expert committee into the Adani -Hindenburg report informs SC that at this stage, taking into account the explanations provided by SEBI, supported by empirical data, prima facie, it would not be possible for the Committee to conclude that there has been a… pic.twitter.com/UGLtbpXmAE
— ANI (@ANI) May 19, 2023
Details
Here's what SC panel said on Adani Group
"In one of the patches where the price rose, the foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) under investigation were net sellers. One investing entity that had purchased across the patches had purchased far more of other securities," the SC panel reported said.
"In a nutshell, there was no coherent pattern of abusive trading that has come to light," the panel added.
More details
All parties still under investigation
It also stated that market regulator SEBI found that some entities that had taken short positions right before the report's publication had profited from "squaring off their positions after the price crashed."
The report further added, "All the parties are still under investigation, and thus the committee, therefore, does not express any opinion on merits."
Know more
SEBI asked to submit updated status report by August 14
On Wednesday, the SC granted SEBI a three-month extension to complete its probe into the Hindenburg report against the group led by Gautam Adani.
The SC also instructed the market regulator to submit an updated status report on the probe into allegations of stock price manipulation by the Adani Group by August 14.