The Waning of the Moon
She has been a regular on the Forbes and Fortune most powerful businesswomen lists, a Padma Bhushan awardee, pioneer of the retail banking revolution in India, star CEO and an icon not only of the industry but of women. Till recently, Chanda Kochhar, former MD and CEO of ICICI Bank, could do no wrong.
Then came the letter from a shareholder to the prime minister, the RBI and markets watchdog SEBI. Arvind Gupta, who owned shares in both Videocon and ICICI Bank, alleged a quid pro quo between Videocon chairman Venugopal Dhoot and ICICI. Dhoot is said to have put in money in Kochhar’s husband Deepak’s alternative energy start-up, Nupower, in exchange for a Rs 3,250 crore ICICI loan. Multiple layers of transactions at Nupower, including a Rs 64 crore loan from Dhoot, creation of different entities and the transfer of all shares owned by Dhoot to Kochhar six months after Videocon got the loan are being probed. As also the business dealings of Deepak’s brother, Rajiv, whose firm Avista Advisory Group advised ICICI Bank clients.
Chanda stepped down from her responsibilities at the bank and its subsidiaries this October 4. The bank stood by her initially, denying any irregularities and saying she had made all the relevant disclosures. But the CBI registered a preliminary enquiry in February 2018 and SEBI sent her and the bank a showcause notice for violating listing obligations. On May 28, the bank again issued a statement in support. However, Chanda went on leave the next day till the completion of an independent enquiry by retired Supreme Court Justice B.N. Srikrishna. Four months later, she resigned.
A commerce graduate from Jodhpur, Kochhar joined ICICI Bank as a management trainee and rose through the ranks to become MD and CEO after a tough succession battle. When she took charge, ICICI had posted an over Rs 1,000 crore decline in profits. She used a 4C—cost, credit, CASA (current and savings account) ratio and capital—strategy to make ICICI India’s second largest bank in terms of assets. She also steered it through one of the biggest downturns in recent times. Now to address the downturn in her own fortunes.