Hindenburg alleges SEBI Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch with Conflict of Interest with Adani & More
Hindenburg is back! It's back with another mind-boggling news that has shocked the stock market community of India. This time their report talks about our very own Chairperson, Ms. Madhabi Puri Buch.
It talks about Conflict of Interest, at multiple levels, with her at the centre.
The Hindenburg report starts with her linkage to the investments in the funds that allegedly were used to siphon Adani money into the Indian Equity market. And this linkage is not just with the chairperson but her husband i.e. Dhaval Buch.
The report takes this context forward where it alleges that the major reason SEBI failed to take the Adani investigation any further, even after an intervention by the Supreme Court, is due to the conflict of Interest the chairperson had with her investments in the same funds that she was supposed to investigate.
Furthermore, the Hindenburg report goes to the past of Madhabi Puri Buch where she was a 100% stakeholder/director in one of her companies in Singapore.
The report brings another conflict of interest where it says the chairperson was leading the chair of SEBI and was also running her business role for a short duration.
And then, the report talks about how her husband Mr. Dhaval Buch, with no experience in Investing across capital markets, real estate or any other financial instrument was handed the role of a Senior Advisor in a huge investment company such as Blackrock.
In parallel, the SEBI Chairperson was allegedly talking about REITs in press conferences and media. In fact, she was seen urging people to look at this investment product as a very positive one for the future.
Interestingly, as per the Hindenburg report, the same company where her husband was employed i.e. Blackrock was launching REITs in India via IPOs. Infact, that is what it was doing as a business.
There are multiple other allegations levied in this report and we have covered to the lengths, as much as we could, in this video.
Whole Research by Hindenburg: https://hindenburgresearch.com/sebi-chairperson/
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0:00 Hindenburg Research Report
0:56 Hindenburg Vs Adani - How it Started?
1:50 SEBI's SCN to Hindenburg
2:56 Adani Regulatory Violations
3:39 First Conflict of Interest
5:47 Email Documentations by Hindenburg
7:07 Supreme Court on SEBI
7:37 Second Conflict of Interest
8:26 Third Conflict of Interest
10:34 Conclusion about Report
11:24 Response by SEBI Chairperson Needed
It talks about Conflict of Interest, at multiple levels, with her at the centre.
The Hindenburg report starts with her linkage to the investments in the funds that allegedly were used to siphon Adani money into the Indian Equity market. And this linkage is not just with the chairperson but her husband i.e. Dhaval Buch.
The report takes this context forward where it alleges that the major reason SEBI failed to take the Adani investigation any further, even after an intervention by the Supreme Court, is due to the conflict of Interest the chairperson had with her investments in the same funds that she was supposed to investigate.
Furthermore, the Hindenburg report goes to the past of Madhabi Puri Buch where she was a 100% stakeholder/director in one of her companies in Singapore.
The report brings another conflict of interest where it says the chairperson was leading the chair of SEBI and was also running her business role for a short duration.
And then, the report talks about how her husband Mr. Dhaval Buch, with no experience in Investing across capital markets, real estate or any other financial instrument was handed the role of a Senior Advisor in a huge investment company such as Blackrock.
In parallel, the SEBI Chairperson was allegedly talking about REITs in press conferences and media. In fact, she was seen urging people to look at this investment product as a very positive one for the future.
Interestingly, as per the Hindenburg report, the same company where her husband was employed i.e. Blackrock was launching REITs in India via IPOs. Infact, that is what it was doing as a business.
There are multiple other allegations levied in this report and we have covered to the lengths, as much as we could, in this video.
Whole Research by Hindenburg: https://hindenburgresearch.com/sebi-chairperson/
Follow us on Social Media Handles:
Instagram - https://bit.ly/adb_insta
Twitter- https://bit.ly/adb_twt
LinkedIn- https://bit.ly/adb_linkdin
Listen to Our Podcast on Spotify:
https://spoti.fi/3JnpmSQ
Subscribe to our Aseem Juneja Channel:
https://www.youtube.com/@aseemjuneja
And for more info about Aseem Juneja, check out: aseemjuneja.in
0:00 Hindenburg Research Report
0:56 Hindenburg Vs Adani - How it Started?
1:50 SEBI's SCN to Hindenburg
2:56 Adani Regulatory Violations
3:39 First Conflict of Interest
5:47 Email Documentations by Hindenburg
7:07 Supreme Court on SEBI
7:37 Second Conflict of Interest
8:26 Third Conflict of Interest
10:34 Conclusion about Report
11:24 Response by SEBI Chairperson Needed
Category
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FunTranscript
00:00Hindenburg has once again brought research around Adani group, but this time the blame is on Mehdvi Puri Buj,
00:06who is the India's stock market regulator, SEBI's chairperson, and her husband, Dhaval Buj.
00:13And the blame is that in the first report, Hindenburg said that through two funds,
00:18Adani group had allegedly invested money in India's stock market.
00:22One fund was run by Bermuda, the other was run by Mauritius.
00:25In these two funds, Mehdvi Puri Buj and Dhaval Buj have been investing their money since 2015.
00:33In the last few years, there have been changes in the structure of this investment.
00:36In this video, we will try to understand the complete narrative of the Hindenburg report.
00:40What evidence has been given? What is the sequence of events?
00:43How has the Buj family been linked to this?
00:47What questions have been asked?
00:48And finally, should we all know?
00:52Let's get started.
00:56This starts in January 2023, when Hindenburg released a research report against Adani group for the first time.
01:02Adani group's stock had tanked a lot, that is, a lot of valuation had fallen.
01:05Even today, that valuation has not been able to reach that price again.
01:10But according to the investigation, Adani group, through its Mauritius and some other offshore entities,
01:16was allegedly putting artificial money in India's stock market and its own stocks,
01:21pumping them and taking them to a different valuation in a wrong way.
01:25Now, this research report, as per Hindenburg, was expanded by 40 media outlets from all over the world.
01:31Their research was taken forward, but despite this, SEBI did not take any public action.
01:36In fact, they talked about some minor technical concerns,
01:40but there was no action that could take this case to a conclusion.
01:45So at that time, as per Hindenburg, they were very surprised at SEBI's inaction.
01:50In fact, on June 27, 2024, SEBI sent a show-cause notice to Hindenburg,
01:56and said that the disclosure you gave was not so robust, it was not so detailed,
02:00you should have told it a little more practically and in a better way.
02:04Hindenburg has said that the 106-page research report that Hindenburg had written against Adani group,
02:10no factual error, not a single factual error was given by SEBI.
02:15And next month, on July 24, Hindenburg wrote to SEBI,
02:19that it feels very odd that SEBI, which has been set up practically to remove fraudulent practices,
02:27is not taking any action against such entities,
02:30on whom there is allegedly a suspicion of billions of dollars,
02:33that they do undisclosed related party transactions,
02:36undisclosed investments and stock manipulation.
02:40In a way, Hindenburg was quite surprised at SEBI's inaction.
02:46It was also feeling a little weird that India's stock market regulator
02:49is not ready to take any action against this company or a group of companies.
02:55Now, what was all this concern?
02:56How was this money put in the Indian stock market in an allegedly wrong way?
03:00Now, see, there were two funds.
03:01One was run by Bermuda, one was run by Mauritius.
03:05The first fund was GDOF.
03:07This was run by Bermuda.
03:08Global Dynamic Opportunities Fund.
03:10This fund was used by Gautam Adani's brother Vinod Adani,
03:15through a controlled company.
03:17Vinod Adani used to run a company, he used to control it.
03:19That company used to invest in GDOF.
03:22GDOF, which was run by Bermuda, used to invest further.
03:25In Mauritius, a based out fund, IPE Plus,
03:30This fund, IPE Plus, used to invest money in India's stock market,
03:35in equity, in equity derivatives, and in many other financial instruments.
03:39Now, here comes the major twist.
03:41Major twist in the whole situation, in the whole story.
03:44These two funds, which were allegedly used in a wrong way
03:47to invest money in India's stock market,
03:49in these two funds, Mehdvi Puri Buj
03:52and her husband Dhaval Buj's money was invested in these two funds.
03:56For example, in IPE Plus, these two opened their first account on 5th June, 2015.
04:03That's when this investment was made in Singapore.
04:05All this investment was done through IIFL.
04:08And a complete document has been given,
04:10where their names are written, ID number, date of birth.
04:14Apart from this, salary has been written in the source of fund.
04:16This means that the source of money is salary.
04:18At that time, Dhaval Buj used to work in Unilever as Chief Procurement Office.
04:23And Mehdvi Puri Buj used to work in a company called Agora Advisory.
04:27She was a director.
04:28In fact, she had the major stake in it.
04:31She was the director of the company.
04:34The date has also been written in this document, 5th June, 2015.
04:38Now, from June, 2015 to 22nd March, 2017,
04:43Mehdvi Puri Buj and Dhaval Buj were both invested in this fund.
04:47But in April, 2017, Mehdvi Puri Buj had to join.
04:51As a whole-time member,
04:53an email is sent from Dhaval Buj to this fund,
04:57in which it is written that we are equal partners in this fund.
05:00We are joint account holders.
05:02But on today's date, we want all this stake to be shown in the name of Dhaval Buj.
05:08Dhaval Buj, be the sole person authorized to operate the accounts
05:11and to execute any document related thereto.
05:15In a way, in the IPE Plus Fund,
05:17which in India's stock market,
05:19used to invest in Adani Group in an allegedly wrong way,
05:22in that fund, the holdings of both Mehdvi Puri Buj and Dhaval Buj,
05:26according to this letter,
05:28can be shown only in the name of Dhaval Buj in the future.
05:31So that in the future, when Mehdvi Puri Buj is going to become SEBI's chairperson,
05:35they don't have any conflict of interest.
05:38But it is important to understand one thing here,
05:40that even now, Mehdvi Puri Buj's husband, Dhaval Buj's money,
05:44his money was still invested in that fund.
05:47And the matter doesn't end here.
05:48On 26th February 2018, a separate document comes out,
05:51where again, through IFL Global,
05:54Global Dynamic Opportunities Fund, the same, second fund, GDOF,
05:58Mehdvi Puri Buj's husband's name is involved,
06:02but along with Mehdvi's personal e-mail ID, it is shown,
06:05that in this fund, approximately $8,72,000 is invested.
06:11It is important to know here, that at this time,
06:14Mehdvi Puri Buj was SEBI's whole-time member.
06:17In fact, in this research, another e-mail comes out on 25th February 2018,
06:22in which, Mehdvi Puri Buj writes an e-mail to IFL through her personal ID,
06:27where it is said that Dhaval would like to redeem 100% of the unit held with the GDOF.
06:33It means, her husband Dhaval,
06:35the entire 100% investment which is done in GDOF,
06:39he wants to redeem it.
06:41And here, Hindenburg asks another question,
06:43that thousands of mutual funds are lying in India's stock market,
06:46about which SEBI knows very well.
06:48It means, SEBI's chairperson could have invested anywhere in these thousands of mutual funds,
06:53but she chose those two official funds,
06:55which were allegedly involved with Adani Group.
06:59It means, in a way, here Hindenburg,
07:01with these two funds, tries to show a direct connection of Mehdvi Puri Buj.
07:07In fact, on this, India's Supreme Court also said,
07:10that SEBI has hit a wall regarding this investigation.
07:14It means, it is not getting any conclusion.
07:17Now, here Hindenburg puts a very big allegation.
07:19He says, that SEBI had an unwillingness.
07:21It means, SEBI didn't want any meaningful action to be taken on these two entities.
07:26Because, eventually, it can happen,
07:28that their own investment of these two funds comes in front of everyone.
07:32And Hindenburg didn't stop only here regarding the conflict of interest.
07:35In fact, it started here.
07:37What is Hindenburg in Mehdvi Puri Buj's history?
07:41For example, in March 2013, a company is registered in Singapore, Agoda Partners.
07:46At that time, Mehdvi Puri Buj is shown as a 100% shareholder of this company.
07:52And here comes the next conflict of interest.
07:55In April 2017, Mehdvi Puri Buj joins SEBI as a whole-time member,
08:00which is written on her LinkedIn profile.
08:02On March 1, 2022, she becomes the chairperson of SEBI.
08:06But till March 16, 2022, she remained a 100% shareholder of Agoda Partners.
08:12It means, till the interval of 15-16 days, she was doing both.
08:17She was the chairperson of SEBI and a 100% shareholder of Agoda Partners.
08:22Again, as per Hindenburg, it is a conflict of interest.
08:26Apart from this, Hindenburg says that Dhaval Buj,
08:29who is the husband of SEBI's chairperson Mehdvi Puri Buj,
08:33in 2019, he is declared as the senior advisor of a company called Blackstone, which is American.
08:41It means, he is hired as a senior advisor in Blackstone.
08:44Now, this allegation seems a little circumstantial.
08:47It means, there is no direct proof in this.
08:49But in his research report, Hindenburg has tried to say that
08:53Dhaval Buj did not have any experience of working in any fund, real estate or capital market according to his own LinkedIn profile.
09:00But despite this, he works as a senior advisor in a company called Blackstone.
09:04But what is the connection here?
09:06I will tell you what he wants to say later.
09:09There is an investment product, REIT, Real Estate Investment Trust.
09:14Now, is REIT a good investment product or not?
09:17This is something to think about.
09:18Only a financial advisor can tell.
09:19But in an industry conference, SEBI's chairperson Mehdvi Puri Buj said
09:24that according to the future, REIT is his favorite product.
09:28And he also urged the investors that you should see this product in a very positive way.
09:34In a way, SEBI's chairperson tells REIT as a good financial product.
09:40And since she has become SEBI's chairperson, as per Hindenburg's report,
09:44she has brought 7 consultation papers, 3 consolidated updates and 2 news regulatory frameworks.
09:51And at the same time, Blackstone has introduced 2 REITs in India as an IPO,
09:57which are Minespace and Nexus Select Trust.
10:02And all this has happened after SEBI's approval.
10:05As per Hindenburg, the alleged conflict of interest here is that REITs are being marketed in India.
10:12Good things are being said about it.
10:13Structural regulatory changes are being made about it.
10:17And at the same time, Blackstone is also allowing REITs to be launched in India through an IPO.
10:24And this is what Blackstone does to Mehdvi Puri Buj's husband as a senior advisor.
10:29This is that conflict of interest.
10:32In a way, Hindenburg's research report is not around Adani Group.
10:37The matter does not end there. In fact, the matter starts from there.
10:41This report talks majorly about Mehdvi Puri Buj,
10:45about their conflict of interest, about their Singapore's involvement in their own company,
10:49which was being run by SEBI's chairperson.
10:52And her husband's work in Blackstone as a senior advisor,
10:56where he does not have any background of working in the stock market or any kind of investment.
11:01But despite this, Blackstone hires him, employs him.
11:05And this is what Blackstone brings REITs to India.
11:09And Mehdvi Puri Buj tells these REITs about a good, a favorite product in the market.
11:15Meaning, this report, Hindenburg's report, was about Mehdvi Puri Buj.
11:20Not about any company whose share price he wants to bring down.
11:24And here, we need Mehdvi Puri Buj's response.
11:27All these allegations that Hindenburg has put up,
11:30all those facts, with proofs, to deny.
11:33To tell how he has no involvement in these things.
11:37Because here, we are talking about SEBI's chairperson.
11:40About her husband's involvement in those things,
11:43which have allegedly already caused some turmoil in the Indian stock market.
11:48No one has forgotten Mehdvi Puri Buj's episode yet.
11:50Because that stock price has not been able to come back yet.
11:55And that's why we need a strong response here.
11:57And we hope that Mehdvi Puri Buj will come out clean with proofs and data.
12:02To make sure that everything settles out objectively.
12:05And we let go this Hindenburg episode, Hindenburg saga, as just an allegation, but nothing else.
12:13But what do you think about this entire episode?
12:15Do tell us in the comment section.
12:17And we will come back with whatever update that comes forward.
12:20And I hope that Mehdvi Puri Buj will give us this update as soon as possible.
12:26Thank you so much for watching this video.
12:27We will meet again in the next video.
12:28Thank you so much for watching this video.
12:29Bye-bye.