INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
ICICI Bank CEO Chanda Kochhar is facing allegations of conflict of interest in the Videocon loan case
With respect to reports that ICICI Bank was under the scanner of the US markets
regulator, the third-biggest lender by assets has said that it has not received any such official communication from the Securities and
Exchange Commission (SEC)
Stock exchange BSE had earlier on Monday sought clarification from ICICI Bank on a report that suggested that the bank and its CEO and
managing director Chanda Kochhar were under the lens of the US stock markets regulator
The statement from ICICI Bank comes at a time Chanda Kochhar is facing allegations of conflict of interest in the Rs 3,250-crore Videocon
loan case."As a large and internationally active bank with operations and listing of its equity and debt instruments in multiple
jurisdictions, the Bank is regularly engaged with regulators, including the US SEC, on a range of matters," ICICI Bank said in a regulatory
ICICI Bank also said it has not received "any communication from the US SEC in relation to the allegations in respect of the Managing
Director CEO of the Bank"."We wish to inform you that with reference to the specific article enclosed, there is no specific communication
received from SEC up to this date," the bank said in a separate filing.Videocon's Venugopal Dhoot had an investment in NuPower Renewables
founded by Chanda Kochhar's husband, Deepak Kochhar
Media reports had claimed in March that Chanda Kochhar had approved a loan in 2012 to the Videocon Group in return for a favour received by
The bank rejected the accusations of nepotism in March and said the board had "full confidence and reposes full faith" in the managing
director.Interim Finance Minister Piyush Goyal had last week said there was no cause for concern for stakeholders while addressing
allegations of mismanagement at ICICI Bank
"ICICI Bank is a good bank
It has very robust processes and there is no cause for concern for any of the stakeholders of ICICI Bank," he had said.He had also said the
bank's internal and external inquiry committees would look into the allegations.The bank, on May 30, announced that its Board has decided to
institute a "comprehensive enquiry" to look into an anonymous whistleblower's complaint alleging that Chanda Kochhar had not adhered to
in an earlier regulatory filing that the scope of enquiry would be comprehensive and include all relevant matters arising out of and in the
course of examination of the facts and wherever warranted, "use of forensic/email reviews and recordal of statement of relevant personnel,
etc."The enquiry would also cover all connected matters in the course of the investigation to bring the matter to a final close.ICICI Bank
shares rose nearly 1 per cent on Tuesday
At 11:37 am, ICICI Bank shares were trading 0.1 per cent higher at Rs 287.10 apiece on the BSE, whose benchmark index Sensex was up 148
