Shares of all six Adani Group companies listed on the Indian stock exchanges hit lower circuits as the markets opened on June 14.
Adani Ports and Adani Transmission in particular were down by 15% each.
This is seen to be on the back of media reports that the National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL) earlier in May suspended the accounts of three foreign funds, Albula Investment Fund, Cresta Fund and APMS Investment Fund, ?that have significant investment in the Group shares, to the tune of over 40000 crore.
The suspension could be due to insufficient disclosure under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), as per a report by the Economic Times.
According to Forbes, the drop in share value is thought to have wiped out over $7.6 billion (approx. ?55,000 crore) from the net worth of promoter Gautam Adani.
Major concerns arising from these developments revolve around possible hoarding of shares to drive up prices or a more insidious case of investing rerouting their investments via foreign establishments, which would be a cleat circumvention of the rules.
As of now, there have been no proven conclusions, but as per The Economic Times, market regulator, the Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI), is investigating a possible stock manipulation angle.