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Did Gautam Adani bribe officials for projects? JP Morgan says ‘highly unlikely’; conglomerate dismisses reports
It was earlier reported that prosecutors from the US Attorney Office and Justice Department (DoJ) are looking at an Adani Group entity.
The Adani Group reportedly bribed officials to get energy projects cleared, Bloomberg reported following which the conglomerate dismissed the news as “false”. Now global brokerage firm JP Morgan weighed in on the issue and said that it is not changing its view on Adani Group and that as the scope for corruption in the group's renewable energy project is "highly unlikely".
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"Given the high level of transparency involved in various renewable energy tenders floated in India, the scope for significant corruption and bribery looks highly unlikely to us," Love Sharma of JP Morgan said as per Economic Times. Calling the details of the report missing, the brokerage said that investigation cannot lead to prosecution and this is why it will have limited potential financial/fundamental impact on the Adani Group. It, therefore, did not change its recommendation.
"In terms of provisions of the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), anti-bribery provisions can lead to a fine of US$2m or twice the monetary gain, whereas for individuals it could be up to 5 years’ imprisonment and a $250,000 fine or twice the monetary gain," JP Morgan said.
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Love Sharma of JP Morgan said, “Within the Adani Group, we continue to favour Adani Ports, where we are overweight across the curve. We highlight that as late as Nov-2023, Adani Ports had received about US$553m as a loan for its Colombo Port project from the US government’s development financial arm, DFC. While this may not imply a “clean chit”, it does indicate some level of diligence being undertaken at the Adani Ports level ahead of making the investment.”
What report said on Adani Group?
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The report claimed that prosecutors from the US Attorney Office and Justice Department (DoJ) are looking at an Adani Group entity and Azure Power Global around potential bribery investigations. Prosecutors may also be looking at the conduct of Gautam Adani, it claimed.
What Adani Group said on the report?
The Adani Group denied investigations and said it hasn't received any notice from the US Department of Justice.
