The Supreme Court verdict on the Adani-Hindenburg Research row was long awaited. The apex court today directed SEBI to complete the probe within three months. Here's a timeline of what happened.
January 24: Adani Enterprises had been preparing to launch an FPO (follow-on public offer) when, on January 24, the New York-based short-seller Hindenburg Research came out with a sensational report that levelled a series of allegations against the group including stock-market manipulation and accounting fraud.
January 25:The Adani group dismissed the report terming it a “malicious combination of selective misinformation and stale, baseless and discredited allegations”.
The BSE 30-share index fell by 1.27%, the nine Adani group companies’ market capitalization collectively lost by a wider 4.5%.
January 26: Adani Group said it is evaluating legal action against Hindenburg Research.
January 27:Adani Group stocks fell 5-20%, wiping out Rs, 3.19 trillion in investor wealth. Congress leader Jairam Ramesh demanded “serious investigations” by the RBI and market regulator SEBI into the series of allegations levelled against the Adani Group by
US short seller Hindenburg Research. “High exposure of institutions such as LIC and SBI to Adani Group has implications for financial stability and for savings of crores of Indians”
January 29:Adani Group called the New-York based research boutique the “ “Madoffs of Manhattan” in a note to its stakeholders. The 413-page response remarks that the “admitted short-seller” is driven by an “ulterior motive”. Hindenburg replied to Adani: Fraud Cannot Be Obfuscated By Nationalism Or A Bloated Response That Ignores Every Key Allegation We Raised. Adani Failed To Specifically
Answer 62 of Our 88 Questions "fraud is fraud", even when it’s perpetrated by one of the wealthiest individuals in the world ---Hindenburg said in a reply not January 30th:
The Budget session of Parliament is set for a stormy start as the opposition parties have demanded a debate on the Adani Hindenburg Research report controversy.
Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) on Monday said it is sitting on substantial mark to market (MTM) gains despite Adani Group company shares taking a beating . It said it is closely examining the Group’s rebuttal of Hindenburg Research’s allegation
January 31:Most of the Adani Group stocks posted modest gains on Tuesday after the flagship Adani Enterprises Ltd (AEL) follow-on public offer (FPO ) was subscribed fully. Barring three, all other Adani Group stocks outperformed the benchmark indices on Tuesday.
In a huge relief for billionaire Gautam Adani, institutional investors and family offices of high net worth individuals (HNIs) salvaged the Rs. 20,000 crore follow-on public offering (FPO) of Adani Enterprises Ltd, ensuring the issue was subscribed 1.12 times, up from just 0.03 times the previous day.
Food giant Wilmar International Ltd. will continue to support its joint venture with Adani Group.
Feb 1:Adani calls off Rs.20,000cr FPO. The company will return the proceeds received from FPO, mainly bailed out by corporates and foreign investors in the face of market volatility. Credit Suisse has stopped accepting bonds of Adani Group companies as collateral for margin loans to its private banking clients.
In the Forbes list of richest persons, Adani fell from third spot last week to 14th after Wednesday’s stock rout, with his personal net worth tumbling to $ 77 billion, down $11 billion in a day.
Feb 2:Gautam Adani, in a video statement, reasoned the protection of investor interest behind cancelling the fully-subscribed follow-on public offer (FPO). In a statement, he said it would “not be morally correct” to go ahead with the FPO in light of the market volatility.
Reserve Bank of India asking banks to share the details of the loans sanctioned by them to the group companies, even as most banks, especially private players, are said to be declining fresh proposals from the Adani Group. The Opposition demanded a joint parliamentary committee ( JPC) probe or inquiry supervised by the Chief Justice of India into the Adani Group Hindenburg row.
Citigroup’s wealth unit has decided to stop accepting its securities as collateral for extending margin loans t o its clients.
Feb 3:S&P Global Ratings said it has revised the rating outlook for Adani Electricity Mumbai and Adani Ports to ‘negative’ from ‘stable’, on concerns of increased capital cost and reduced funding access. This is the first rating action by a global rating agency after Hindenburg Research published its report.
Feb 6:British lender Standard Chartered also followed suit and announced the halting of accepting Adani Group bonds as collateral on margin loans. Proceedings of both Houses of Parliament were adjourned for the third day on Monday without transacting any business as an united Opposition continued to raise slogans against what it called “Adani Sarkar” and continued to press for a JPC (joint parliamentary committee) probe into the Hindenburg allegations.
The Congress intensified its nationwide campaign against the government on this issue, questioning LIC investments into Adani firms.
Feb 8:Total Energies has put on hold a planned investment in Adani Group’s $50billion hydrogen project pending an audit following allegations by a US shortseller, chief executive of the French oil giant Patrick Pouyanne said on Wednesday.
Seven out of 10 stocks of the group finished with gains , with flagship Adani Enterprises surging nearly 20 per cent. The stock, which had crashed to a low of Rs.1,017 on February 3 following a Hindenburg report, has doubled to Rs.2,125 but is still far away from its peak of Rs.4,189.55.
Feb 9:The Supreme Court has agreed to hear on Friday a plea seeking a direction to the Centre to constitute a committee monitored by a retired apex court judge to inquire and investigate into the Hindenburg Research report which has made a slew of allegations against the business conglomerate led by industrialist Gautam Adani.
Adanis dial global hedge funds for capital
The Himachal Pradesh excise and taxation department scrutinised records and checked the stock at the Adani Wilmar warehouse in Parwanoo. Norway’s sovereign fund exits Adani firms by pulling out $200 million. Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) has announced that it will review the status of Adani Group stocks in its indices amid investor concerns.
Feb 10: The Supreme Court asked the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and the government to produce the existing regulatory framework in place to protect Indian investors, who are reported to have lost several lakh crores over the past two weeks after a US based short seller Hindenburg Research published. A Bench, comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) D Y Chandrachud and Justices P S Narasimha and J B Pardiwala. Moody’s Investors Service on Friday confirmed the ratings of eight Adani Group companies, but changed the outlook on four to ‘negative’ from ‘stable’, the rating agency said. It retained the ‘stable’ outlook for the other four firms.
The NSE on Friday announced that Adani Ports & SEZ and Ambuja Cements will be removed from the additional surveillance (ASM) framework. The move will reduce the margin requirement for traders while dealing in these stocks.
Nathan Anderson, Founder of Hindenburg Research, whose damning report led to a $100 billion plus rout in Adani Group shares, has said that his firm has never been banned, its bank account never seized, and that it is not under any investigation.