The Congress has accused Sebi chairperson Madhabi Puri-Buch of trading in listed securities while in possession of unpublished price sensitive information and funnelling money into China funds in violation of the regulator’s Code on Conflict of Interest for members of the Board.

The latest Congress salvo comes a day after Puri-Buch said she had made all necessary disclosures and complied with recusal guidelines in dealing with corporate entities such as the Mahindra Group that had hired her husband and made certain payments to an advisory firm in India that she owns.

The new revelations drive another stake through Puri-Buch’s protestations of innocence and severely undermine the probity of the market regulator and its leader.

Addressing a press conference at the AICC headquarters in the capital on Saturday, Pawan Khera, party spokesperson and chairman of its media and publicity department, asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi if he was aware that the Sebi chairperson “has been investing in Chinese firms at a time when India is facing geopolitical tensions with China”.

Puri-Buch, who has been accused of investing in certain offshore funds based in Mauritius and Bermuda that were also used by the Adani group, may now find it harder to swat away the accusation of routing investments into Chinese funds.

Khera said that between 2017 and 2023, Puri-Buch, as a whole-time member and later as the Sebi chairperson, had traded in listed securities worth ₹36.9 crore, which was a clear violation of section 6 of Sebi’s Code on Conflict of Interest for Members of the Board.

Listing the details of her investment in the US between 2021 and 2024, Khera claimed that she had invested in Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF, ARK Innovation ETF, Global X MSCI China Consumer and Invesco China Technology ETF.

Khera said the party had information that between 2017 and 2021, Puri- Buch held foreign assets. The Congress spokesperson asked whether the PM was aware that Buch had made high value investments outside India. “If yes, what is the date of these investments and the date of disclosures,” he added.

“When was the first time she declared the foreign assets and to which agency of the government,” the Congress spokesperson asked.

He then popped another question: “Is it true that Madhabi P. Buch was actively involved in Agora Partners PTE (Singapore) as she was a signatory to the bank account?”

Agora Partners Singapore is the virtual twin of a namesake entity based in India —Agora Advisory Pvt Ltd — in which she holds a 99 per cent stake. Last week, the Congress said Agora Advisory had received revenues of ₹2.95 crore between 2016 and 2024 from at least six companies.

Khera said while it was deeply worrying to learn that the Sebi chairperson had been investing in Chinese funds, it was hardly surprising since the PM himself had lately given a clean chit to China.

He said the latest revelations indicate that Puri-Buch’s conflict of interest has moved beyond Indian shores.

In a post on X, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said it was not surprising that the “government’s favourite, the Sebi chairperson, is also not behind in investing in Chinese companies”.