Hindenburg said in a post on Saturday on its website that she and her husband, Dhaval Buch, invested in offshore entities that were allegedly part of a fund structure managed by India Infoline and in which Vinod Adani, the brother of Gautam Adani, also had investments.
The investments were made in 2015, two years before she was appointed to Sebi, the short seller said, citing whistleblower information and other documents that Bloomberg was not able to verify.
“We would like to state that we strongly deny the baseless allegations and insinuations made in the report,” the couple wrote in a statement shared by a representative for Sebi.
“All disclosures as required have already been furnished to Sebi over the years. We have no hesitation in disclosing any and all financial documents, including those that relate to the period when we were strictly private citizens, to any and every authority that may seek them.”
They said a more detailed statement would be issued in due course “in the interest of complete transparency.”
A former investment banker and CEO of ICICI Securities, Madhabi Puri Buch moved to Singapore in 2011 where she joined Greater Pacific Capital, an Asia-focused fund, before returning to India in 2017 to be appointed a full-time member of Sebi. In 2022, she was named chair of the regulator.
Hindenburg also raised questions about the Sebi chair promoting real estate investment trusts as a promising asset class without disclosing that Dhaval Buch is now an adviser to Blackstone Inc, which has sponsored two of the four listed REITs in India.
Blackstone and India Infoline did not respond to requests for comment outside of regular business hours in India.
Hindenburg’s accusations against Sebi and its chair follow its campaign against the Adani Group, which it accused in January 2023 of share manipulation and accounting fraud. The Adani Group has denied those allegations. While Sebi has yet to make a case against the Adani Group, the regulator has sent Adani officials and Hindenburg notices seeking further information on suspected regulatory violations.