MSCI ESG raters flag governance dangers at embattled Adani Group

NEW YORK: MSCI ESG Analysis mentioned on Friday it lately modified a few of its environmental, social and governance assessments of Adani Group entities, after the Indian conglomerate was caught up in a short-selling storm in current weeks.

Seven listed Adani Group firms misplaced over $100 billion in market worth mixed after a Jan. 24 report by Hindenburg Analysis alleged inventory manipulation and improper use of tax havens, and flagged considerations over debt ranges. Adani has rejected the considerations and denied any wrongdoing.

“On March 3, we downgraded our evaluation of the Hindenburg-related controversy circumstances to ‘average’ from ‘minor’ following new developments within the related circumstances,” MSCI ESG Analysis mentioned in an announcement to Reuters.

It mentioned the downgrade and ensuing rating modifications didn’t result in any modifications in general ESG Rankings of every firm.

Entities rated by MSCI ESG Analysis embrace Adani Inexperienced Vitality, Adani Energy, Adani Complete Gasoline, Adani Transmission and Adani Enterprises, based on the assertion.

This week, MSCI ESG Analysis flagged all its coated Adani Group entities for the metric of accounting investigations, whereas some have been flagged for the securities valuations metric, it mentioned.

MSCI’s ESG Controversies scoring and flagging system alerts buyers to potential reputational dangers, based on a factsheet produced by the company.

“Throughout varied Adani Group entities, MSCI ESG Analysis has recognized points regarding governance, board independence, associated celebration transactions, and controlling shareholders,” the corporate mentioned.

For the reason that short-seller report launch, MSCI ESG Analysis has added “Bribery and Fraud” and “Governance Buildings” controversy circumstances to all Adani Group firms in its protection, it mentioned.

Adani Group didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark despatched outdoors of enterprise hours. Firm representatives have met fixed-income buyers over the previous two weeks in a global street present.

Sustainability rankings firm Sustainalytics downgraded company governance-related scores for some Adani Group firms final month

MSCI ESG Analysis mentioned on Friday it was carefully monitoring developments within the Adani case, “together with any related potential launch of regulator-driven investigations or any ongoing developments associated to governance buildings, audit and accounting practices.”