Anil Ambani of India is banned by SEBI,

and his issues with Reliance Group

26/8/2024,

The chairman of Reliance Group and one of the most well-known businessmen in India, Anil Ambani, was fined approximately $3 million and prohibited from the stocks market for five years last week due to allegations of fund diversion by the nation’s markets regulator.

Anil Ambani stated that he was examining the ruling and would follow the legal advice for the following steps.

Anil Ambani, who was once the sixth richest person in the world in 2008, declared bankruptcy in a UK court in 2020 as a result of a number of financial and legal setbacks.

This chronology shows what happened before the most recent setback to his collapsing empire:

2005: The Ambani family comes to an agreement to divide the Reliance business between their brother Anil Ambani and his father Mukesh Ambani, who is currently the richest person in Asia.

While Mukesh Ambani is in charge of Reliance Industries, which has significant operations in the oil and gas sector, Anil Ambani began heading a group that includes Reliance Communication and Reliance Infrastructure.

2014–17: Anil Ambani‘s infrastructure and electricity companies begin to accrue large debt within ten years.

Reliance Naval and Engineering, one of his other companies, is soon to be placed under receivership. 2017–19: Reliance Communications borrows 2.50 billion rupees from Dena Bank; the loan is not repaid for a number of years, prompting the company to begin selling telecom assets for 240 billion rupees in order to pay off debt.

Anil Ambani is facing a number of legal issues, including a lawsuit from Chinese banks for defaults and the prospect of incarceration for not paying Ericsson AB.

PwC, the group company’s auditor, has withdrawn from the audit of Reliance Capital in the meantime because it did not receive a “satisfactory response” to its inquiries regarding specific observations made during the evaluation of the company’s fiscal 2019 accounts.

Reliance Communications files for bankruptcy in order to get rid of its debt.

August 2020: Anil Ambani‘s insolvency proceedings are suspended by the Delhi High Court in relation to a personal guarantee worth about 12 billion rupees that he provided to State Bank of India in exchange for loans to his firms.

February, 2022: In light of allegations of purported fund diversion, SEBI issues an interim order prohibiting Anil Ambani and other firm management from participating as directors of any listed entity, collaborating with any market intermediary, or engaging in any other activity until further orders are issued.

Anil Ambani resigns from the boards of Reliance Infrastructure and Reliance Power in March 2022.

On August 23, 2024, Anil Ambani is banned by SEBI from the securities market for a period of five years due to allegations of fund diversion.

Sources: Media stories and Regulatory filings

(Indranil Sarkar and Varun Hebbalalu reported from Bengaluru; William Maclean edited)