ICICI says Kochhar inquiry report in two-and-a-half mths
NEW DELHI: The committee set up under retired Supreme Court judge, Justice BN Srikrishna, to probe allegations against ICICI Bank managing director and chief executive officer Chanda Kochhar is expected to submit its report in the next two-and-a-half months, the bank’s non-executive chairman, GC Chaturvedi said on Thursday.
Kochhar’s continuation at ICICI Bank depends on the findings of the panel.
A final decision on Kochhar’s fate will be taken after receiving the panel’s report and she continues to be the bank’s managing director and CEO, Chaturvedi said on the sidelines of the India Banking Conclave.
ICICI Bank had appointed Srikrishna to investigate allegations of conflict of interest and quid pro quo against Kochhar in the Videocon loan case.
Chaturvedi said the bank will reply to the Videocon notice by capitalmarketsregulatorsecurities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) only after receiving the panel’s report.
Chaturvedi, a retired bureaucrat, took over as the chairman in June after MK Sharma’s tenure ended.
Sebi had initiated proceedings against ICICI Bank for non-disclosure of information in the alleged conflict of interest in the grant of loans to the Videocon Group. Sebi had sent the bank and Kochhar a notice alleging violation of Listing Obligation and Disclosure Requirements
(LODR) and for not making adequate disclosures. Kochhar had proceeded on leave till the completion of the investigation. The bank had appointed Sandeep Bakhshi, the head of its life insurance arm, as chief operating officer of the bank. Bakhshi will run the bank and report to the board while Kochhar remains on leave.
The controversy pertains to the alleged conflict of interest in a ₹3,250 crore loan given by ICICI Bank to Videocon Group. The money was part of a ₹40,000 crore loan given by a consortium of 20 banks in 2012. NEW DELHI: Reliance Industries (RIL) on Thursday became the first Indian company to cross the ₹8 lakh crore market capitalisation mark while its stock hit a fresh 52-week high.
The stock closed 1.86% higher at ₹1,269.70 on the BSE. During the trading session, the scrip touched a 52-week high of ₹1,273.55 The surge in the counter has pegged the firm’s market valuation at ₹8,04,691.40 crore at the end of Thursday’s session.
According to market experts, the stock has been on an uptrend after the company announced aggressive business plans at its annual general meeting (AGM) last month, including the launch of its fibre-to-the-home service, Gigafiber.
On July 13, RIL’S market valuation had briefly surged past the ₹7 lakh crore mark, making it the second company after IT bellwether Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) to achieve this milestone. On July 12, it crossed the $100-billion market capitalisation mark for the first time in the last 10 years. Again on July 20, Reliance Industries’ market capitalisation surged past ₹7 lakh crore mark. TCS’ market valuation had in May surged past ₹7 lakh crore.
Meanwhile, the 30-share Sensex scaled an all-time (intraday) high of 38,487.63 in early trade. However, it succumbed to profit booking to slip to 38,227.36, before finally ending at 38,336.76 points, up 51.01 points, or 0.13%.