Dhaval Buch (Image: singaporehealthcaremanagement.sg)
Dhaval Buch, a prominent figure in the corporate world, has recently come under the spotlight due to allegations made by Hindenburg Research. These allegations, linked to his wife Madhabi Buch, the Chairperson of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), have raised concerns about potential conflicts of interest and have brought Dhaval Buch’s extensive career into sharp focus.
Read also: “Character Assassination”: Madhabi, Dhaval Respond to Hindenburg Report
Currently, Dhaval Buch serves as a Senior Advisor at two major firms: Blackstone, one of the world’s largest private equity firms, and Alvarez & Marsal, a global professional services firm specializing in corporate restructuring and performance improvement. Additionally, he holds a position as a non-executive director on the Board of Gildan Activewear, a leading manufacturer of apparel and activewear.
Before these roles, Dhaval Buch was the Chief Executive Officer of Bristlecone, a global supply chain strategy and solutions company. At Bristlecone, he was instrumental in expanding the company’s global footprint and enhancing its service offerings, particularly in digital transformation and supply chain analytics. His leadership played a significant role in Bristlecone’s growth, helping the company serve a wide range of industries, including manufacturing, consumer goods, retail, and life sciences.
Dhaval Buch’s career began with Unilever, where he spent three decades gathering deep experience in procurement and all aspects of the supply chain, including planning, manufacturing, logistics, and distribution. His last role at Unilever was as Chief Procurement Officer, based in Singapore, where he oversaw the company’s global supply chain operations. Prior to that, he led Unilever’s supply chain for the Asia/Africa region, further solidifying his reputation as a leader in the field.
Hindenburg Research has alleged that Dhaval Buch, along with his wife Madhabi Buch, has stakes in offshore funds tied to the Adani Group’s money laundering scandal. According to whistleblower documents, the Buchs held investments in the IPE Plus Fund 1, a Mauritius-registered offshore fund connected to Vinod Adani, the brother of Adani Group founder Gautam Adani. The allegations suggest that these offshore accounts were used for money laundering through over-invoicing of power equipment. The documents further reveal that Dhaval Buch transferred all assets under his control just before Madhabi Buch’s appointment as a Whole-Time Member of SEBI, raising concerns about a potential conflict of interest.
The controversy deepens with the revelation that Madhabi Buch owns a 99% stake in Agora Advisory Private Limited, an Indian consultancy firm where Dhaval Buch serves as a director. In 2022, Agora reported significant revenues from consulting, far exceeding Madhabi Buch’s disclosed SEBI salary. Combined with Dhaval Buch’s advisory roles at Blackstone and Alvarez & Marsal, these connections have led to accusations of regulatory capture, especially given the regulatory decisions made by SEBI under Madhabi Buch’s leadership that allegedly benefited Blackstone.
In response to the Hindenburg allegations, Dhaval Buch and Madhabi Buch issued a joint statement vehemently denying the claims. They described the allegations as baseless and devoid of truth, asserting that their lives and finances are an open book. They emphasized their willingness to disclose all financial documents to any authority that might seek them and expressed their intent to issue a detailed statement in due course. They also criticised Hindenburg Research for what they termed as an attempt at character assassination, noting that SEBI had taken enforcement action against Hindenburg, which had led to the issuance of a show cause notice.
