Market regulator warns against premature conclusion to Adani probe

By Arpan Chaturvedi and Jayshree P Upadhyay

(Reuters) -India's market regulator told the Supreme Court on Monday that any incorrect or premature conclusion of its investigation into the Adani group's possible lapses of regulatory disclosures will be "legally untenable" and not "serve the ends of justice".

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), in a filing, said it has approached 11 overseas regulators for information relating to whether the Adani group has violated any norms regarding its publicly available shares.

The first such request, the SEBI said, was made as early as Oct. 6, 2020.

"(An) analysis would have to be conducted on the documents received from various sources before conclusive findings can be arrived at," the regulator said.

India's Supreme Court is hearing an appeal from SEBI to give it an additional six months to complete its probe into the Adani group.

The probe comes after U.S.-based short-seller Hindenburg Research in January raised several governance concerns around billionaire Gautam Adani's group, and alleged improper use of tax havens and stock manipulation by the ports-to-energy conglomerate. The group has denied all the allegations.

On Friday, SEBI sought six months to complete its probe, rather than the two months it given was on March 2.

However, the Supreme Court, in oral arguments, said that it was inclined to give a three-month extension. Oral arguments do not necessarily match the final court order, which will likely be given on Monday.

Ahead of that order, SEBI, in its filing, reiterated that the Adani group's transactions highlighted by Hindenburg for violating Indian laws are highly complex and included many sub-transactions across numerous jurisdictions.

(Reporting by Arpan Chaturvedi and Jayshree P Upadhyay; Editing by Savio D'Souza and Bernadette Baum)