Madhabi Puri Buch, the head of India’s markets regulator, reportedly continued to earn revenue from a consultancy firm during her seven-year tenure, potentially violating regulations for officials, as revealed by public documents reviewed by Reuters.
Hindenburg Research has accused Madhabi Puri Buch of a conflict of interest in her investigations into the Adani Group, citing her previous investments.
The allegations against Gautam Adani’s conglomerate, made in January last year, led to a significant drop in the share prices of Adani Enterprises and other group companies. Although the shares later recovered, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has since launched an ongoing investigation.
Separately, the U.S. short-seller Hindenburg Research, in its latest report, drew attention to two consultancy firms operated by Madhabi Puri Buch and her husband—Agora Partners, based in Singapore, and Agora Advisory, based in India.
Buch joined SEBI in 2017 and was appointed to the top position in March 2022. Over those seven years, Agora Advisory Pvt Ltd, where Buch holds a 99% share, earned a revenue of 37.1 million rupees ($442,025), according to public documents from the Registrar of Companies, analyzed by Reuters. This holding potentially violates a 2008 SEBI policy that prohibits officials from holding an office of profit or receiving salary or professional fees from other professional activities.
In her statement, Buch said that the consultancy firms had been disclosed to SEBI and that her husband used these firms for his consulting business after retiring from Unilever in 2019. However, Buch and the SEBI spokesperson did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment.
Hindenburg, citing Singapore company records, noted that Buch transferred all her shares in Agora Partners to her husband in March 2022. However, company records for the financial year ending March 2024 indicate that Buch still holds shares in the Indian consulting firm. The documents reviewed by Reuters do not detail the business activities of the consultancy, nor is there any available information suggesting these revenues were linked to the Adani Group.
Subhash Chandra Garg, a former top bureaucrat in the Indian government and a SEBI board member during Buch’s tenure, described her equity in the firm and its continued operations as a “very serious” breach of conduct. “There was no justification for her to continue to own the firm after she joined the board. She could not have been allowed even after making disclosures,” Garg said. “This makes her position completely untenable at the regulator.”
Buch has not clarified whether she was granted a waiver to retain her shareholding in the Indian consulting firm. A specific query to her on this matter also went unanswered.
Hindenburg’s allegations have sparked calls for Buch’s resignation, including from opposition leaders. A spokesperson for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) dismissed the allegations as a baseless attack.
According to Garg and another SEBI board member, no disclosures were made by Buch or other officials to the board regarding their business interests. “There was a requirement to make annual disclosures, but board members’ disclosures were not placed in front of the board for information or scrutiny,” said the board member, who declined to be identified as information on disclosures to the board is not public.
Garg added, “To be sure, no members’ disclosures were discussed. If the disclosures were made only in front of Ajay Tyagi, the then chairperson, I am not privy to that.” Messages and calls to Tyagi regarding whether these disclosures were made to him went unanswered.
