Why Doesn’t Adani Disclose Potential Conflicts?

It is no secret that most Indian firms starting off as family-run businesses never outgrow their past. Even after they become large and go public, the controlling shareholders, their kith and kin and their private firms are usually the first port of call as suppliers, contractors, advisers and buyers, often to the detriment of minority investors.

Over the last eight years, the country has adopted — and frequently tweaked — a comprehensive set of regulations around disclosing related-party transactions. But is the spirit of the law filtering into corporate behavior? Maybe not. Views in the financial and legal community differ, but at least some experts I spoke to believe that India’s No. 1 infrastructure player, which has been in the eyes of a governance storm this year, should have been more forthcoming about doing business with a legal firm where Paridhi Adani, the chairman’s daughter-in-law, is a partner.