BlackRock flags 'substantial accounting irregularities' in SpiceJet accounts: Report 

BlackRock Inc, the world's largest asset manager with $10 trillion in assets under management, has called out the irregularities in the way that domestic airline SpiceJet conducts its financials. BlackRock recently voted against two board resolutions at SpiceJet citing "substantial accounting irregularities", reported the Mint.

BlackRock had been voting against a proposal for the reappointment of Shiwani Singh, the wife of Ajay Singh who is the chairman and managing director at SpiceJet. Shiwani's reappointment as director and the adoption of the financial statements was voted against by BlackRock "because of serious qualifications by auditors".

"Vote against audit committee member (Shiwani Singh) because of substantial accounting irregularities for which we believe the audit committee bears some responsibility," BlackRock said in documents reviewed by the Mint.

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It wasn't just BlackRock that was unhappy with the state of affairs at the domestic carrier. Over half the public institutions voted against Shiwani's reappointment, and just under half voted against accepting the financial statements for the fiscal.

Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM), American Century Investments and State Street Global Advisors, the three other large foreign investors in the company also voted against the resolutions.

But with Ajay Singh and his family holding a 59.46 stake in the company, both the proposals were accepted and adopted. Retail investors, who own around a third of the company, also accepted the proposal. None of the large investment institutions responded to the Mint about the details of the irregularities.

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A SpiceJet spokesperson added that the company did not know why the investors voted against the proposal as they had not sought any clarification from SpiceJet nor sought any clarification of the same.

"In fact, these investors have not even attended the annual general meeting wherein the company responded to various queries of investors," the spokesperson told the Mint.