INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Amazon.com Inc has asked market regulator to investigate Future Retail Ltd for insider trading, a letter seen by Reuters showed, as it seeks
to prevent its business partner from becoming part of rival Reliance's empire.The US giant has been pressing the Securities and Exchange
Board of India (SEBI) to review Reliance's August deal to buy retail, logistics and other assets from Future Group for $3.4 billion
including debt.Amazon argues it had a 2019 agreement with Future which prevented the Indian group's retail assets from being sold to certain
parties including Reliance Industries Ltd, which is led by Asia's richest man, Mukesh Ambani.The November 8 letter to SEBI alleges Future
Retail disclosed to Reliance price sensitive details of an injunction granted by a Singapore arbitrator to block the deal.The spat is being
closely watched as a key test of whether Indian firms, courts and regulators will respect arbitration decisions made in accordance with
overseas arbitration rules, and adds to headaches for Amazon in India which is also dealing with antitrust challenges.The injunction was
granted on Sunday October 25 and was reported by media with Amazon issuing a short statement saying it welcomed the decision.Reliance later
that evening said in a stock exchange filing that it had been informed of the arbitration order and would enforce its rights to complete the
deal with Future without delay.It is this October 25 filing which Amazon argues in its 20-page letter that indicates Mr Ambani's group was
privy to "price sensitive" details of the injunction.Mr Ambani's group "was not a party to the arbitration proceedings ..
and could have received details related thereto only from FRL (Future Retail) or its Promoters," said the letter.A spokesman for Future
Group said in a statement to Reuters it denies the allegations made in the letter and that news of the injunction was in the public domain
from Sunday.Reliance and SEBI did not respond to Reuters requests for comment
Amazon declined to comment on the letter's contents.Future Retail, which has argued that Amazon's agreement last year was only with a
separate Future Group unit, issued a statement to the stock exchange on the morning of October 26 saying it was examining the arbitration
order and that it believed the order would have to be tested by Indian law.Future Group, which operates supermarkets and high-end food
stores and has more than 1,500 outlets across India, has argued it entered into the deal to sell retail assets to Reliance because its
business was severely hit by the COVID-19 pandemic and it was critical to protect all its stakeholders.It remains to be seen whether Indian
courts and regulators will side with Amazon or Future Retail
Future Retail has asked a New Delhi court for an order to restrain Amazon from approaching Indian regulators to block its deal with Reliance
Hearings on the case began on Tuesday.
