Investigating Adani Group’s connections to the Gulf Asia fund is the Sebi.
SEBI Investigates Adani Group’s Ties with Gulf Asia Fund for Share Ownership Violations
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), India’s market watchdog, is looking into any relationships between the Adani Group and Gulf Asia Trade & Investment, a British Virgin Islands-incorporated fund. The goal of the investigation is to ascertain whether there have been any share ownership regulations broken. Nasser Ali Shaban Ahli, a businessman from Dubai, is said to be the owner of the Gulf Asia Trade & Investment fund. The fund has made investments in a number of listed Adani companies, according to data provided to Reuters by the investigative journalism group and the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP)..
SEBI’s Investigation into Adani Group: Probing Allegations of Secret Share Ownership”
This SEBI examination is a component of a larger inquiry of the Adani company that was started in response to a January report from short-seller Hindenburg Research. According to the study, there are governance issues since offshore shell entities are allegedly secretly owning stock in companies listed on the Adani Exchange. Whether Gulf Asia’s connections to the Adani Group represent “in concert” acts with significant Adani shareholders is a key concern for SEBI investigators.
Adani Group Remains Silent on SEBI Probe and Fund Ties Amid Denials”
The SEBI investigation and any potential ties between it and the fund have not been addressed by the Adani Group, according to Reuters. The conglomerate has vehemently denied the OCCRP’s accusations that business partners secretly used money to invest in its publicly traded companies. Additionally, it refuted Hindenburg’s claims, saying that all dealings with affiliated parties were adequately reported.
Requests for comment from SEBI and Gulf Asia have received no response, and attempts to reach Nasser Ali Shaban Ahli have been unsuccessful. Al Jawda Trade and Services, Ahli’s main provider of financial services, situated in the United Arab Emirates, has not responded to emails or phone calls either..
Indian Law Mandates Public Ownership in Listed Companies, SEBI Investigates Ties with Fund Amid Allegations of Secret Share Transactions”
To combat price manipulation, Indian law requires listed businesses to have a minimum of 25% public ownership, and all transactions involving entities acting jointly must identify and disclose the persons involved. Ahli was previously identified by the OCCRP as one of two private investors with long-standing commercial ties to billionaire Gautam Adani, the founder of the Adani Group..
The non-profit investigative journalist nAdditionally, the non-profit network of investigative journalists claimed that between 2013 and 2018, Gulf Asia bought and sold Adani shares via offshore companies. Based on an examination of tax haven filings and internal corporate emails, this was stated. According to a document filed with the British Virgin Islands corporate register and examined by Reuters, Gulf Asia and EZY Global Pte Ltd, a subsidiary of Adani Enterprises, amalgamated in September 2011. Gulf Asia eventually survived, however the document at the time was silent on the ownership split.
Gulf Asia’s Share Transactions and Merger with Adani-Linked Entity: Insights into Alleged Offshore Deals
Additionally, according to Network, Gulf Asia purchased and sold Adani shares between 2013 and 2018 via offshore structures. Based on an examination of tax haven filings and internal corporate emails, this was stated. According to a document filed with the British Virgin Islands corporate register and examined by Reuters, Gulf Asia and EZY Global Pte Ltd, a subsidiary of Adani Enterprises, amalgamated in September 2011. Gulf Asia survived, but the ownership distribution was not stated in the contract at the time.
According to data provided to Reuters by the OCCRP, Gulf Asia started buying Adani stock not long after SEBI issued an order in June 2013 requiring 105 Indian businesses to increase the proportion of publicly traded shares to at least 25% of their total floats. Gulf Asia owned shares in both Adani Power and Adani Enterprises totaling $51.4 million as of April 2014. Four Adani Group companies—Adani Enterprises, Adani Power, Adani Transmission, and Adani Ports—had a $202 million investment as of March 2017..
Notably, EZY Global was included for the fiscal years 2006–2011, while Adani Enterprises did not list Gulf Asia as a linked party in its annual reports. In August, SEBI announced that it was close to concluding its inquiry into 24 transactions involving the listed firms of the Adani Group, with work on 22 of them already done. The Adani Group, well-known for its numerous ventures in the fields of ports, airports, power, and real estate, has seen the combined Since the Hindenburg report, the market value of its seven largest listed companies has decreased by $100 billion.
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