Tens of thousands of members of India’s main opposition party were taking part in nationwide protests against the scandal-hit billionaire Gautam Adani on Monday.
Senior leaders and party workers from the Indian National Congress staged demonstrations outside the offices of the State Bank of India and the Life Insurance Corporation over concerns the two organisations had invested billions of rupees in Adani conglomerates.
The Adani Group was last month accused by US-based short-seller Hindenburg Research of stock manipulation, unsustainable debt and use of tax havens. Since then, Adani shares have been in free fall, with the conglomerate's cumulative market value loss topping $110 billion.
Protesters in southern Hyderabad city gathered outside the State Bank of India headquarters chanting “Adani Go Away”, against the conglomerate and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government.
In western Rajasthan's Jaipur, several party workers carried banners and demanded an investigation into the controversy.
Rallies were also held in capital Delhi, financial capital Mumbai and Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala, among other cities.
Some MPs also protested outside parliament.
“The house should come forward to discuss the matter keeping aside other routine business, and should constitute a Joint Parliamentary Committee to investigate further in this matter,” Congress member Manickam Tagore said.
Mr Tagore also demanded that parliament direct Mr Modi to “disclose the actual loss of public money” to the nation through this house.
Parliamentary proceedings were again adjourned on Monday after opposition parties stepped up pressure on Mr Modi's government for a joint parliamentary investigation into allegations of purported corporate malpractice, “brazen” market manipulation and accounting fraud in Mr Adani's port-to-energy business empire.
Last week, protests and sloganeering over the alleged fraud had led to repeated adjournments of parliament.
The Adani Group has received billions of dollars in investment from public-sector entities such as the State Bank of India and the country’s largest insurance company, Life Insurance Corporation of India, triggering fears that the slump in its shares over the past week will affect millions of small Indian investors.
Earlier in the day, 16 opposition parties had met to discuss their strategy before parliamentary proceedings resumed.
The protests come days after India's Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman last week said regulators would do their job on the fraud allegations against the Adani Group without interference from the government.
She also insisted public sector institutions were sitting on profits and that the country had a robust financial regulatory system.
Shares of Adani Group firms fell further on Monday — those of Adani Enterprises slumped by 9.50 per cent.
Mr Adani has repeatedly denied the allegations against him.
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The Nobel Prize was created by wealthy Swedish chemist and entrepreneur Alfred Nobel.
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- Nobel is best known as the inventor of dynamite, but also wrote poetry and drama and could speak Russian, French, English and German by the age of 17. The five original prize categories reflect the interests closest to his heart.
- Nobel died in 1896 but it took until 1901, following a legal battle over his will, before the first prizes were awarded.
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After Brexit took place, the party focused on the reformation of British democracy.
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- George Sainsbury of the supermarket dynasty, sugar magnate William Park Lyle and actress Dame Gracie Fields were residents in the 1930s when the street was only known as ‘Millionaires’ Row’.
- Then came the international super rich, including the last king of Greece, Constantine II, the Sultan of Brunei and Indian steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal who was at one point ranked the third richest person in the world.
- Turkish tycoon Halis Torprak sold his mansion for £50m in 2008 after spending just two days there. The House of Saud sold 10 properties on the road in 2013 for almost £80m.
- Other residents have included Iraqi businessman Nemir Kirdar, singer Ariana Grande, holiday camp impresario Sir Billy Butlin, businessman Asil Nadir, Paul McCartney’s former wife Heather Mills.
Hunting park to luxury living
- Land was originally the Bishop of London's hunting park, hence the name
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
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Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
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