Adani Row: SEBI disagrees with SC appointed expert panel
The capital markets regulator SEBI told the Supreme Court that its 2019 rule changes do not make it tougher to identify beneficiaries of offshore funds, and action will be taken if any violation is found.
SEBI said it has continuously tightened rules concerning beneficial ownership and related-party transactions.
A Supreme Court-appointed expert committee had in an interim report in May said it saw “no evident pattern of manipulation” in billionaire Gautam Adani’s companies and there was no regulatory failure.
It, however, cited several amendments the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) made between 2014 and 2019 that constrained regulators’ ability to investigate, and its probe into alleged violation in money flows from offshore entities has “drawn a blank”.
Without making any mention of the status report of its own investigation, SEBI in its latest affidavit to the Supreme Court said it did not agree with the expert committee observation of difficulties in identifying holders of economic interest behind an offshore fund.