American short seller Hindenburg, in his new report, has claimed a connection between Adani Group and SEBI Chief Madhabi Puri Buch. It is mentioned in the report that the SEBI Chairman had a stake in the offshore entities which were used in the Adani money siphoning scandal. However, SEBI Chief Madhabi Puri Buch has denied these allegations and said that his investment in the fund was made only two years before he joined SEBI. Amidst these allegations and counter-allegations, it is important to know who Madhabi Puri is and what positions she has held.
Who is SEBI Chief Madhabi Puri?
Madhabi Puri is the first woman chairperson of India’s market regulator i.e. SEBI from March 1, 2022. She has studied from IIM Ahmedabad and is the youngest head of SEBI. Earlier, she was a whole-time member of SEBI and looked after the functioning of market regulation, investment management and IT related departments. According to the report, Madhabi Puri Buch started her career with ICICI Bank in the year 1989.
Between 1993 and 1995, Madhabi Puri Butch worked as a lecturer at West Cheshire College, England. After this, he served in the sales, marketing and product development departments of many companies for 12 years.
Advisor in BRICS Bank also
From 2013 to 2017, he worked as an advisor in the New Development Bank created by the BRICS group of countries. After this, in the year 2017, he was appointed as a whole-time member of SEBI. In the year 2018, he had passed an order against Sahara Group. In the year 2022, he took charge as the Chairman of SEBI.
Who is Dhawal Puri?
Madhabi Puri Butch’s husband Dhaval Butch is known as an experienced businessman. According to the report, Dhaval Buch is currently a senior advisor at Blackstone and Alvarez & Mars. He also serves as a non-executive director on the board of Gildan. Dhawal Buch has had a three decade long career with Unilever. Dhaval Buch has studied from IIT Delhi. He obtained a degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1984.
Also read: ‘Investment was made two years before joining SEBI’, Buch couple clarified on Hindenburg report
The couple denied the allegations
The Buch couple have denied the allegations made by Hindenburg. The Buchs said they had invested in IPE Plus Fund 1 managed by 360 One Asset & Wealth Management (formerly IIFL Wealth Management) in 2015. This investment was made by him two years before Madhabi joined SEBI as a whole-time member when both of them lived in Singapore as private citizens. According to the statement, the decision to invest in the fund was taken because Chief Investment Officer Anil Ahuja is Dhawal’s childhood friend from school and IIT Delhi and has decades of experience as a former employee of Citibank, JP Morgan and 3i Group PLC. Had a strong investment career.
‘Our life is an open book’
Rejecting the allegations outright, SEBI Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch and her husband Dhawal Buch said in a statement issued early on Sunday morning that the allegations made in the Hindenburg report on August 10 are baseless and there is no truth in them. Not there. Our life and finances are like an open book. Whatever information we needed to make, all that information has been given to SEBI over the years.
What allegations did Hindenburg make?
The report released by Hindenburg on Saturday claimed that whistleblower documents reveal that Madhabi Buch and her husband Dhaval Buch opened their account with IPE Plus Fund 1 in Singapore on June 5, 2015. The total investment of the couple in this is estimated at 10 million dollars. Hindenburg alleged that the offshore Mauritius fund was set up by a director of Adani Group through India Infoline and is registered in tax haven Mauritius.