Adani Ports’ auditor resigns after raising concerns over suspicious transactions
Gautam Adani-led Adani group lost $3.1 billion in investor wealth on Monday after Adani Ports’ auditor resigns after raising concerns over suspicious transactions.
The resignation, which came citing "differences of opinion", triggered a sell-off across most Adani Group stocks, wiping out a whopping ₹25,419 crore in market capitalization in just one trading session.
The Adani group stocks came under pressure as the capital market regulator Securities & Exchange Board of India (SEBI) prepares to submit its investigative report to the Supreme Court on the allegations made by US-based Hindenburg Research against the conglomerate. On Monday, SEBI sought a 15-day extension from the Supreme Court to submit the report.
Deloitte Haskins and Sells LLP's resignation letter as Adani Ports and SEZ Ltd’s statutory auditor revealed that the US-headquartered Big Four auditor resigned prematurely primarily due to lack of clarity on transactions with certain parties alleged in the 24 January Hindenburg Research report, and because of the ₹1.75 trillion Gautam Adani-led company’s resistance to conducting an independent external evaluation.
As a “material weakness" identified as on 31 March, Deloitte said in the resignation letter, “The company (Adani Ports) did not have an appropriate internal control system in respect of conducting an external examination of allegations made on the company."
By: Mayur Bhalerao, 14 Aug 2023, 08:25 PM IST
