India's Adani Ports says Deloitte auditor resignation arguments not convincing
By Aditya Kalra and Munsif Vengattil
NEW DELHI (Reuters) -India's Adani Ports on Saturday said Deloitte's reason for quitting as auditor of the company was «not convincing or sufficient to warrant such a move» and the global firm had all the necessary information it required to conduct the process.
Deloitte decided to resign from the role amid concerns over certain related party transactions flagged in a report by U.S. short seller Hindenburg in January, but the Indian company did not wish to look into them independently, a source told Reuters on Friday.
The auditor's resignation has brought fresh scrutiny of the financial management at Adani Group, led by Indian billionaire Gautam Adani. The group has denied Hindenburg's allegations made around alleged improper use of tax havens and other business dealings.
Commenting for the first time on the matter, Adani Ports said in a statement that in meetings with its leadership, Deloitte indicated concern over a lack of a wider audit role as auditors of other listed Adani companies.
However it was conveyed to the auditor it was not within the remit of Adani Ports to recommend such appointments as other entities are «completely independent», the company said.
«The Audit Committee (of Adani Ports) was of the view that the grounds advanced by Deloitte for resignation as Statutory Auditor were not convincing or sufficient to warrant such a move,» Gopal Krishna Pillai, Chairman of the Audit Committee of Adani Ports, said in the statement.
«Deloitte was not willing to continue as… auditor and, therefore, it was agreed to amicably end the client-auditor contractual relationship,» he said.
Deloitte did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In its letter of resignation,
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