Paytm has turned an operational profit for the first time. On a revenue of Rs 1,470 crore, the company reported a profit of Rs 122.5 crore. This first ever truly profitable quarter will hearten public investors. Paytm was hit hard by the Reserve Bank of India shutting down Paytm Payments Bank and forcing the company to discontinue Paytm wallets in early 2024. The company has been on a steady mend since that wipeout.
In March, the company told stock exchanges that it was not aware of any investigation against it in the US. The DoJ indictment unsealed on Wednesday says this is not true.
A Swiss Federal Criminal Court ruling is seen as an indictment of SEBI and Indian courts in the Adani affair. The verdict is based on an appeal to unfreeze an entity’s bank accounts, which indirectly weighed on allegations that the Adani group’s promoters had sold/bought more shares than legally permissible, to inflate share prices. The alleged proxy is Sanilion, linked to Chang Chung-Ling. The court documents reference money laundering and embezzlement suspicions.
The SEBI chairperson seems to have been economical with the truth in her responses to the Hindenburg allegations on conflicts of interest, especially to do with her Blackstone ties. What could prove far more problematic for Puri-Buch than her name appearing alongside an entity she is overseeing the investigation of is her close connection with American private equity major Blackstone. The Blackstone connection has ensured that Hindenburg’s allegations aren’t another blip in the news cycle.
Fresh evidence surfaces in the decade-long probe into “over-invoicing” of coal imports totalling over Rs. 35,000 crore by corporates including Adani. This scam’s main victim was the public at large rather than the government’s coffers. The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) had found evidence that over 40 companies were over-charging for coal that was imported and sold to thermal power plants across the country.
AdaniWatch examines two examples where appointments of ‘independent directors’ to Adani Group companies have raised questions. One concerns a director whose financial firm has provided important financial advice to numerous Adani companies. Another concerns a director who appears to have been appointed before a mandatory ‘cooling-off period’ for former staff and others with a pecuniary relationship had expired.
Questions have been raised in the public arena about whether Adani Group companies should have been ‘more forthcoming’ about doing business with a legal firm in which Gautam Adani’s daughter-in-law is a partner. This story details 12 deals in which the legal firm provided advice either to the Adani company concerned or to another party to the deal. As a ‘related party’ to the Adani Group, should Paridhi Adani’s involvement have been formally disclosed to shareholders and stock exchanges?
The conclusion of SEBI’s investigation and the release of its results to the public may be a crucial turning point in the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
The Supreme Court-appointed expert committee in the Adani-Hindenburg case advocates for Adani’s exoneration and finds no regulatory failure by SEBI. The SC-appointed committee’s report itself exposes the limitations it faced.
