[August 17, 2011] ED probing Bharti Airtel for suspected forex rule violation Tweet Aug 17, 2011 (Mint - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is investigating Bharti Airtel Ltd for suspected foreign exchange violations. The agency has initiated enquiries about "suspected contraventions of the provisions of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (Fema) by Bharti Airtel," Namo Narain Meena, minister of state for finance, told Rajya Sabha on Tuesday. "We are looking into the Fema angle relating to some of their overseas acquisitions, including the Africa one among others," an ED official said, refusing to divulge details. India's largest telecom service provider by revenue and customers acquired the African assets of Kuwait's Mobile Telecommunications Co., or Zain, last year for $10.7 billion (about '48,000 crore at the time). In addition to this, capital market regulator Securities and Exchange Broad of India (Sebi) has received complaints that promoters of Bharti Airtel increased their shareholding in the company from 60.91% on 30 June 2007 to 67.15% on 30 September 2008 without making an open offer, Meena said. This was in violation of Sebi (Substantial Acquisition of Shares and Takeovers) Regulations, 1997, according to the complaints, he added. Besides this, the "Central Bureau of Direct Taxes has received a reference containing allegations regarding improper accounting treatment of licence fee and spectrum charges by the company," he said. Bharti has denied any wrongdoing. "Bharti Airtel adheres to the highest standards of corporate governance and always complies with all the rules and regulations laid down by various agencies and the licensor, namely DoT (department of telecommunications). We will provide all relevant details to the concerned authorities as and when required and will offer full assistance to clarify any concern," Bharti said in a statement. To see more of Mint, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.livemint.com. Copyright (c) 2011, Mint, New Delhi Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For more information about the content services offered by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), visit www.mctinfoservices.com. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]