New Delhi: The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has told two Mauritius-based funds that they could face penalties and cancellation of licences for not sharing shareholding details despite repeated requests over two years.

Both the Mauritius-based Elara funds – Elara India Opportunities Fund and Vespera Fund – have investments in the Adani group. Since 2023, they are being asked by SEBI to provide "granular disclosures" of all their shareholders since they had "concentrated positions" in the Adani Group, according to a SEBI document dated March 28, reported Reuters.

"To date, this has not been provided by these FPIs (foreign portfolio investors) to SEBI... They have also not provided any reasons," said the document.

It added that such delays had "impeded the investigation into the Adani Group's compliance with minimum public shareholding norms."

The Reuters report stated that India's Elara Capital, SEBI and the Adani Group did not respond to its queries.

The SEBI document cited by Reuters said that Elara funds did not make disclosures about their acquisitions of certain Adani stocks exceeding 5%, as was required by Indian regulations. It did not specify the exact shareholding in question.

At present the Adani Group along with its 13 offshore investors are facing an investigation by the SEBI since Hindenburg Research in 2023 alleged improper use of tax havens by the group, triggering a stock sell-off.

The Adani Group has repeatedly denied wrongdoing, and its shares have since recovered.

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