SEBI can access all information of Mauritius: Mahen Kumar Seeruttun

A senior Mauritius minister told Mint that SEBI, India’s market regulator, can get all the information about Adani and its associates if it contacts its Mauritian counterpart.

“Authorised institutions (such as SEBI) are allowed to have complete information, even on the ultimate beneficiaries,” Mahen Kumar Seruttun, minister for financial services and good governance, told Mint.

“At the regulatory level, there is no restriction in accessing information. ..in fact, we are part of the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO), where we are party to that information exchange,” he said.

Siruttun said the exchange of information between India and Mauritius is taking place on a continuous basis as there is a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the two regulators.

“I believe exchanges are happening at the regulatory (level),” he said. There is an MoU between FSC and SEBI for exchange of information.”

SEBI and its Mauritian counterpart, the Financial Services Commission, which regulates non-bank financial services and global trade, have consistently exchanged information on a range of subjects, including Adani.

“One thing I do know is that for some time now, information has been sought by the Indian regulator. I would say that information has been sought over a period of time and on a regular basis, not just in the last few weeks. And we have provided that. It is not just on Adani. It is among others, and Adani,” he said.

He added that the Mauritian regulator sought information from Adani firms as well and so far it has not found any violation of Mauritian law.

Adani Group entities were the entities in a report by US-based short seller Hindenburg Research, released on January 25, which wiped off $100 billion from the group’s valuation in stock markets and caused the firm to call out. 20,000 crore Follow Up Public Offer for Adani Enterprises Ltd.

Hindenburg alleged that funds linked to Adani and his family members – including two Mauritius-based funds – own shares of the group’s listed entities, potentially violating Sebi’s minimum shareholding limit for public companies. The short-seller also alleged that members of the Adani family, including Gautam Adani’s brother Vinod Adani, operated shell companies in Mauritius and other tax havens such as the United Arab Emirates and Cyprus without any independent addresses or employee base, and siphoned money in and out. Took out Of the listed entities of Adani. The central beneficiaries of many of these firms are under question.

Seruttun said Mauritius had laws that prevented the setting up of “shell entities” or companies without business activities and it was difficult for companies to avoid tax (round tripping) as per current Mauritian law.

He added that companies need to appoint local full-time directors, ‘not just nominee directors, and must have a significant employee base and demonstrate business activity to have a presence in Mauritius.

He said many of these companies have structures in other jurisdictions.

“Today we have made all the necessary arrangements. We have laws, we have systems.. Our systems have been reviewed many times by international agencies, be it EU (European Union) or OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) and Financial Action Task Force. He declined to elaborate on the nature of the information sought by the authorities, but said the country is bound by its treaty to share complete information, including on ultimate beneficiaries.

Seruttun said Mauritius had a strong system in place to protect anyone trying to abuse its jurisdiction

“We always cooperate with any other jurisdictions and regulators regarding the need to provide information whenever they are conducting any type of investigation,” he said.

To Hindenburg, who was able to obtain classified information from the Mauritius Register, the minister said he was not aware that the information was classified and added that it could have been public knowledge.

Gift City:

Meanwhile, on GIFT City, the minister said that both India and Mauritius can further collaborate to establish an African corridor. “So far, we have focused on inbound investment, but we may see outbound investment from India as well, as a lot is happening in African countries,” he added.