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Sondra Faccio
Associate Professor, School of International Studies and Department of Law, University of Trento
I. Introduction
Gautam Adani and Sagar Adani, respectively founder and controlling shareholder and executive director of the Indian company Adani Green Energy Ltd (Adani Green) are accused by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of having falsely asserted compliance with anti-bribery principles and laws in connection with a bond offering to investors in the US, while setting up a millionaire bribery scheme to obtain contracts that benefitted their company in India.1 In relation to the same bribery scheme, the Adanis and some senior executives connected to them are accused by the U.S. Department of Justice of violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practice Act (FCPA), securities and wire fraud conspiracy and to obstruct justice.2 The bribery scheme allegedly put in place by the Adanis concerns a renewable energy project awarded by the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) to Adani Green, the renewable energy arm of the Indian conglomerate ‘Adani Group’. The latter is one of the most successful and controversial multinational group in the world.3 The Group has been at the center of several governmental investigations for corruption allegations,4 and the cases pending before the United States courts are yet rising new concerns about its governance.
