Amazon wants Future Retail to be investigated by India’s market regulator – accuses Kishore Biyani’s group of insider trading

• Amazon has written to India’s market regulator – Securities and Exchange Board of India, accusing Future Retail of insider trading, according to Reuters.
• Amazon wrote in the letter that Future Retail revealed price sensitive information to Reliance regarding the Singapore arbitrator’s order of the injunction granted to the global e-commerce giant.
• The Singapore court had ruled in favour of Amazon and passed an interim order that put the RIL-Future deal on hold.

Global e-commerce giant Amazon has written to India’s market regulator – Securities and Exchange Board of India, accusing Future Retail of insider trading, according to Reuters. The letter to SEBI dated November 8 says that Future Retail revealed price sensitive information to Reliance regarding the Singapore arbitrator’s order of the injunction granted to Amazon.

On October 25, global e-commerce giant Amazon got a stay order on the Future Retail and Reliance deal from a Singapore arbitrator, and had written to BSE and SEBI to uphold the decision. Amazon had sent a legal notice to Future Coupons over Future Group’s ₹25,000 crore deal with Reliance. Amazon had said that it was denied the Rights of First Refusal for the deal with Future Group.

The Singapore court had ruled in favour of Amazon and passed an interim order that put the RIL-Future deal on hold.

However, Amazon in the letter to SEBI alleges that Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance, which was not a party to the arbitration proceedings, was given information regarding the same, and it would have come from Future Retail.

Here’s a timeline of events in the Future Retail, Reliance vs Amazon fight so far

The development comes as the Amazon vs Future Retail case in the Delhi High Court has been adjourned for the second day. Future Retail had on November 7 informed the bourses that it was seeking relief and contended that Amazon was ‘misusing’ the interim order passed by an emergency arbitrator, appointed by the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) on October 25, 2020.

During the court’s proceedings on Wednesday, Amazon’s representative Gopal Subramanium argued that when Future Retail has used money from the global e-commerce company, how can it now say that it’s in violation of the FDI rules of India.

On Tuesday, Future Retail’s lawyer Harish Salve had argued that FDI isn’t allowed in multi-brand retail in India and that Amazon can’t go ahead with FDI violations. Salve ended his arguments in court by saying, “Please don’t let this American giant kill Future.”

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‘Please don’t let this American giant kill Future,’ Kishore Biyani’s lawyers say Amazon knew about RIL-Future Retail deal from June