Hindenburg vs Sebi: Statement by Sebi chief Madhabi Buch and her husband on Hindenburg allegations: Full text

The chairperson of market regulator Sebi, Madhabi Puri Buch, and her husband Dhaval’s book They have denied all the accusations made against them by the whistleblower Hindenburg Adani controversy investigation dubbed ‘character assassination’

Below is the full text of the joint statement issued by the Buchs to the media:

In the context of the accusations made by Hindenburg on 10He August 2024 against us, and in line with our commitment to full transparency, we issued a detailed statement as shown below.

There are certain allegations against SEBI which the institution would address independently. We would like to address the issues that affect us personally.

We would like to state the following:

1. Madhabi is an IIM Ahmedabad alumnus and has had a corporate career spanning over two decades in banking and financial services, predominantly with the ICICI Group.
2. Dhaval Buch is an IIT Delhi alumnus and has had a 35-year corporate career with Hindustan Unilever Limited in India and then with Unilever globally as part of its senior management team. Over this long period, Madhabi and Dhaval have accumulated their savings through their salaries, bonuses and stock options. The insinuations about their net worth and investments that make reference to Madhabi’s current government salary are malicious and motivated.
3. From 2010 to 2019, Dhaval lived and worked in London and Singapore, both at Unilever.
4. From 2011 to March 2017, Madhabi lived and worked from Singapore, initially as an employee of a private equity firm and later as a consultant.
5. The investment in the fund referred to in the Hindenburg report was made in 2015, when both were private citizens living in Singapore and almost two years before Madhabi joined SEBI, even as a full-time member.
6. The decision to invest in this fund was taken because the Chief Investment Officer, Mr. Anil Ahuja, is a childhood friend of Dhaval from school and IIT Delhi and being an ex-employee of Citibank, JP Morgan and 3i Group plc, had many decades of a solid career as an investor. That these were the factors driving the investment decision is confirmed by the fact that when, in 2018, Mr. Ahuja stepped down from his position as the Chief Investment Officer of the fund, we redeemed the investment in that fund.
7. As confirmed by Mr Ahuja, at no point of time did the fund invest in any bonds, shares or derivatives of any Adani group company.
8. Dhaval’s appointment in 2019 as a Senior Advisor at Blackstone Private Equity was due to his deep expertise in supply chain management. His appointment, therefore, predates Madhabi’s appointment as the SEBI Chairman. This appointment has been in the public domain ever since. At no point has Dhaval been associated with Blackstone’s real estate business.
9. Following his appointment, the Blackstone Group was immediately added to the SEBI list of Madhabi’s disqualifications.
10. In the last two years, SEBI has issued over 300 circulars (including “ease of doing business” initiatives in line with SEBI’s development mandate) across the market ecosystem. All SEBI regulations are approved by its Board of Directors (and not its Chairman) after extensive public consultation. Insinuations that a handful of these REIT industry-related matters were favours to some specific party are malicious and motivated.
11. The two consulting firms that Madhabi had set up during his time in Singapore, one in India and one in Singapore, became inactive immediately after his appointment to SEBI. These firms (and his shareholding in them) were explicitly listed in the declarations he made to SEBI.
12. After retiring from Unilever in 2019, Dhaval started his own consulting practice through these companies. Dhaval’s deep supply chain expertise enabled him to work with prominent clients in the Indian industry. Therefore, linking the accruals in these companies to Madhabi’s current salary in the government is mischievous.
13. When the Singapore entity’s shareholding was shifted to Dhaval, this was once again revealed, not only to SEBI, but also to the Singapore authorities and the Indian tax authorities.
14. SEBI has robust institutional mechanisms for disclosure and disqualification norms in accordance with the code of conduct applicable to its officers. Accordingly, all disclosures and disqualifications, including disclosures of all securities held or subsequently transferred, have been diligently followed.
15. Hindenburg has been served with a show-cause notice for various violations in India. It is unfortunate that instead of responding to the notice, they have chosen to attack the credibility of SEBI and attempt to defame its Chairman.

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