Pernod Ricard's brand names are seen inside its India office in Gurugram, India, April 28, 2022. REUTERS/Aditya KalraCompany allegedly helped Delhi retailers gets loans from HSBCPernod denies allegations, says will cooperate with authoritiesviolated the liquor policy of India's capital city by financially supporting retailers who in exchange stocked more of the French company's brands and boosted its market share, the country's financial crimes agency alleges.
The documents are not public and details of the allegations against Pernod have not been previously published. The court documents do not allege any wrongdoing by HSBC. The bank said in a statement to Reuters it could not comment on the matter which is "under investigation by the authorities."The investigation adds to existing
As select retailers got loans with Pernod's support and stocked more of its products, the liquor giant's market share rose from 15% to 35%, the agency said. Bids worth 90 billion rupees were received at the time. Delhi last year revoked the policy, and liquor is now only sold via government-run shops.
The court documents show a senior HSBC banker told federal agents during questioning that the bank had received a board resolution from Pernod Ricard India for issuance of corporate guarantees to finance loans for retailers who planned to bid for the licences.Babu told investigators a proposal related to issuance of corporate guarantees was shared internally with Pernod India's legal and finance teams and the company did the necessary due diligence, according to the documents.
OKH THANK YOU .