Adani Group denies appointing audit firm to look into its companies
Adani Enterprises Limited (AEL) on Thursday dismissed reports the Adani Group had appointed accountancy Grant Thornton to run an independent audit of some of its companies accounts in the wake of allegations of financial fraud and malpractice by short-seller Hindenburg Research. AEL called such news reports a ‘market rumour’.
Adani Group is still in the mode of managing the crisis caused by US-based short-seller Hindenburg Research. The firm had accused Adani Group of ‘brazen stock manipulation and accounting fraud… over the course of decades’, allegations which the Adani Group has denied. However, the fallout of the news caused the conglomerate to lose more than USD 100 billion.
In an exchange filing, Adani Group said that it had not appointed Grant Thornton to audit its companies.
“We would like to clarify the said news item appears to be a market rumour and hence it would be inappropriate on our part to comment on it… We wish to confirm we have made and will continue to make disclosures in compliance with obligations under SEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015 and our agreements with stock exchanges,” AEL said in its filing.
Adani Group said last week it was considering independent evaluation of issues relating to legal compliance, related party transactions and internal controls following the Hindenburg report.
Reuters and other news outlets had reported two days ago that Adani had appointed Grant Thornton.
Citing sources, Reuters had said that Grant Thornton was going to look at whether related-party transactions at the Adani Group complied with corporate governance standards.
(With inputs from agencies)
