‘All information on Adani firms shared with Sebi’
The Mauritius Financial Services Commission has provided all information, including relevant data on key beneficiaries of the Mauritius incorporated entities related to Adani firms, to the Indian markets regulator Sebi as part of an existing Memorandum of Understanding and the guidelines issued by International Organisation of Securities Commission, said Mauritius minister for financial services and good governance, Soomilduth Bholah.
The Adani Group has been in the regulatory crosshairs especially after shortseller Hindenburg Research published a report in 2023 alleging money laundering and stock price manipulation. In January, the Supreme Court dismissed the need for an Special Inv-estigation Team (SIT) probe into Adani Group, rea-ffirming that Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) was the sole authority that would investigate the matter. The watchdog said that it had completed 22 out of 24 investigations related to Adani—with the rest of the investigations pending inputs from foreign regulators. In January, SC directed Sebi to complete all investigations in three months.
"Sebi has the information. Both authorities are talking," Bholah said.
Senior Mauritius officials including Minister Bholah said that the Mauritius regulator has been cooperating and there is an information-sharing mechanism between the two. Bholah is leading a Mauritius delegation to India, to meet the Indian business community and regulators. For instance, Dhanesswurnath Thakoor, the chief executive of the Financial Services Commission in Mauritius met with Sebi chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch in Mumbai on Friday, officials said.
The Adani affair had led to a reputational fallout for Mauritius among people who don’t work in the financial services industry, Vinay Guddye, director-Financial Services and Africa Desk, for the Economic Development Board. Those who work in the financial services sector and use Mauritius to incorporate and raise capital have belief in the Mauritius regulatory bodies, he said.
“Mauritius is only one of four jurisdictions in the world that scores 14 out of 14 in all the Financial Action Task Force requirements, which means there's no way that there is illicit funds flowing through the Mauritius jurisdiction,” said Guddye, of the Economic Development Board.
In January, the Supreme Court directed Sebi to complete all investigations within three months