ICICI Bank board today came out in support of its Managing Director and CEO Chanda Kochhar, saying it has full faith and confidence in her and described the reports against her regarding credit disbursement to Videocon group as "malicious and unfounded rumours".
An investigation by The Indian Express had found that ICICI CEO’s husband Deepak Kochhar had got a sweet deal from Videocon’s Venugopal Dhoot six months after Videocon availed Rs 3250 loan from the ICICI.
“In December 2008, Venugopal Dhoot of the Videocon Group set up a company with Deepak Kochhar, husband of ICICI Bank MD and CEO Chanda Kochhar, and two of her relatives; then gave a Rs 64-crore loan to this company through a fully owned entity before he transferred the latter’s ownership to a trust headed by Deepak Kochhar for just Rs 9 lakh,” the report said.
According to the paper, “In what raises questions of impropriety and conflict of interest…almost 86 per cent of Videocon’s loan (Rs 2,810 crore) remains unpaid and the account was declared an NPA in 2017.”
The newspaper also claimed that Dhoot-Kochhar-ICICI web of transactions is being examined by investigative agencies.
However, the ICICI bank board sought to defend its CEO, saying, “"The board has come to the conclusion that there is no question of any quid pro quo/ nepotism/ conflict of interest as is being alleged in various rumours.
"The Board has full confidence and reposes full faith in the Bank's MD and CEO Ms. Chanda Kochhar," the bank said.
It also said that rumours are being spread to malign the bank and its top management.
With regard to the exposure to the Videocon group, it said the bank's current exposure is a part of the syndicated consortium arrangement.
"ICICI Bank was not the lead bank for this consortium and the bank only sanctioned its share of facilities aggregating approximately Rs 3,250 crore which was less than 10 per cent of the total consortium facility in April 2012," it added.
Meanwhile, another report by Express said the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has imposed a stiff monetary penalty of Rs 58.9 crore on ICICI Bank, terming it as “probably the steepest penalty” imposed by the regulator on a bank for violation of various regulations.
The penalty was imposed on ICICI for non-compliance with directions issued by the RBI on direct sale of securities from its HTM (held-to-maturity) portfolio and specified disclosure in this regard, the report says.