There’s more trouble brewing for Adani Group as Citigroup’s wealth unit has decided to stop accepting its securities as collateral for extending margin loans to its clients.
“In recent days, we have seen a dramatic price drop of Adani-issued securities. Stock and bond prices have plummeted following the negative news around the group’s financial health,” stated an internal memo from Citigroup cited by Bloomberg.
The bank said in the memo it has decided to remove lending value “to all Adani-issued securities with immediate effect”.
Credit Suisse Group has also stopped accepting bonds of Gautam Adani’s Group of companies as collateral for margin loans to its private banking clients. Adani Group bonds were hammered after a report by Hindenberg Research claimed that the Adani empire was the biggest con in corporate history that is engaged in a brazen stock manipulation and accounting fraud scheme. It also accused Adani of loading companies with debt that has put the entire group at a precarious financial risk. Adani Group has denied these allegations, but investors appear to be concerned. The group was forced to call off its ₹20,000-crore FPO on Wednesday even after it was fully subscribed.