FirstFT: Intricate paper trail reveals Adani’s hidden investors

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Good morning. Today we have an investigation into potentially controversial shareholders in Indian billionaire Gautam Adani’s empire, revealing their identities for the first time since allegations of share price manipulation were made by short seller Hindenburg Research.

Documents shared with the FT have revealed that two men — Nasser Ali Shaban Ahli from the United Arab Emirates and Chang Chung-Ling from Taiwan — used a Bermuda-based investment fund to amass and trade large positions in shares of the Adani Group.

Both men are associates of Gautam Adani’s brother Vinod, whose employee oversaw their investments, raising questions over whether they were front men used to bypass rules for Indian companies that prevent share price manipulation.

In response to questions from the FT, an Adani spokesperson said its listed entities were in compliance with all laws. Lawyers for the company that set up the investment structure denied there was any wrongdoing associated with it.

Here’s our report on the secret paper trail that shielded the two men from scrutiny.

Here’s what else I’m keeping tabs on today:

• Economic data: S&P Global publishes its manufacturing purchasing managers’ indices for the EU, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, UK and US.

• Storms: Super Typhoon Saola is expected to make landfall today along China’s southeastern coast. Hong Kong’s government has de facto closed down the city as it prepares for a possible direct hit. (Bloomberg)

• Singapore: The presidential election takes place today. Though the role is largely ceremonial, the vote will be seen as a referendum on the People’s Action party that has ruled the island nation for more than six decades.

How well did you keep up with the news this week? Take our quiz.

Five more top stories

1. China’s president Xi Jinping plans to skip the G20 summit in New Delhi next weekend in a blow to a forum of leading nations already beset by deep divisions. Xi’s planned absence comes after he dominated last week’s Brics summit, where he oversaw plans to expand the developing nations club that Beijing sees as a rival to US-led western groupings. Some Indians have speculated China might be seeking to undermine the forum.

2. UBS has reported the biggest-ever quarterly profit for a bank, after recording a $29bn gain linked to its takeover of Credit Suisse. Top managers at UBS were sceptical when they were forced to rescue their scandal-ridden rival, but five months on, the deal has made the bank Europe’s second most valuable lender — and triggered fierce political debate in Switzerland. Read our story on the “deal of the century”.

3. The Chinese technology groups Baidu and ByteDance rolled out their artificial intelligence chatbots to the public on Thursday as they race to deliver China’s answer to Microsoft’s OpenAI. Beijing, which previously required technology companies to seek approval for launching generative AI services, gave its blessing to the new chatbots. Here’s more on the AI race between China and the US.

4. China’s manufacturing activity contracted for a fifth straight month in August, adding pressure on policymakers in the world’s second-largest economy to take action to shore up growth. Thursday’s manufacturing figures added to a series of disappointing data that has fuelled concerns about China’s economy.

5. Japan’s government is planning a record ¥7.7tn ($53bn) in annual defence spending to expand its fleet and missile capabilities to counter rising military threats from China and North Korea. Here’s what’s on Tokyo’s planned shopping list to beef up its defence capabilities.

News in-depth

Despite selling just 24,000 cars last year, Vietnam’s VinFast this month soared into the ranks of the world’s most valuable automakers after its August 15 New York listing through a special purpose acquisition company. VinFast’s wild ride has shone a spotlight on its billionaire founder Pham Nhat Vuong, who was Vietnam’s richest man even before the listing. Here’s how the tycoon built a carmaker worth more than General Motors.

We’re also reading . . . 

• Leaving Tokyo: Japan’s smaller cities and rural areas exert a post-pandemic pull as more companies also leave the capital’s orbit.

• AI robots: Our artificial creations are close to being so convincing that we can’t tell them apart from humans — and that could be a problem, writes John Thornhill.

• Football: The sport is entering a new era of “hyper commercialisation”, said the co-founder of 777 Partners, which is considering a stake in Everton.

Chart of the day

Foreign investors sold a record $12bn worth of Chinese stocks in August as piecemeal support measures from Beijing failed to assuage concerns over slowing growth and a worsening crisis in the country’s property sector.

Take a break from the news

Here are our six films to watch this week, including Passages, Ira Sachs’s complex love story that hosts a trio of superb performances.

Additional contributions from Tee Zhuo and Gordon Smith