InGovern Research Services, a corporate governance advisory firm, has sought urgent intervention of regulators to hasten the completion of the Future Group firms’ forensic audit as more than ₹60,000 crore of public wealth has been allegedly destroyed.
This is also crucial in the light of the Adani episode and the resignation of Kishore Biyani as Future Retail’s (FRL) executive chairman and director last month, which was a sign of relinquishing responsibilities.
“In light of the Adani episode, it is imperative that Sebi and the RBI should show urgency and ensure actionable outcomes in ensuring the forensic audit of Future Group companies is taken to a logical conclusion and the assets are recovered. It is to be noted that unlike the Adani group of companies, the Future group of companies has a higher number of retail shareholders and the loss of wealth of public shareholders is much larger than the Adani group of companies,” InGovern said in a letter to Sebi.
In its letter dated February 15, InGovern sought urgent intervention of the regulators —RBI and Sebi — and ensure that forensic audits of Future Group companies are taken to a logical conclusion and the assets are recovered. Further, regulatory intervention was also required to ensure protection and salvaging of shareholder wealth.
“If anything, there should be a greater regulatory scrutiny on Future group of companies, than others, as over ₹60,000 crore of public wealth has been destroyed systematically by the promoters of Future group,” it said.
According to InGovern, the resignation of Biyani means that he is “abdicating” all responsibilities of helping the company recover assets or ensure that there is any continued value for sale to investors. The advisory firm, quoting media reports, alleged that there was a non-cooperation from the Biyanis and the resolution professional was planning to take up the matter with the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT).
Kishore Biyani has resigned as executive chairman and director of debt-strapped Future Retail, which is facing insolvency proceedings, in January, which would now be placed before its Committee of Creditors (CoC) for approval.
FRL is currently undergoing a corporate insolvency resolution process vide an order dated July 20, 2022, passed by NCLT’s Mumbai bench. The tribunal had also appointed Vijaykumar Iyer as the resolution professional for FRL.