Chaturvedi named ICICI Bank’s new non-exec chairman

ICICI Bank on Friday named a new non-executive parttime chairman in former bureaucrat Girish Chandra Chaturvedi, who said he did not believe the lender was in a mess and it could be steered out of recent incidents.

Chaturvedi, 65, will replace current chairman M K Sharma, whose term ends on June 30.

In a statement, ICICI Bank said the 1977-batch IAS officer from the Uttar Pradesh cadre, who retired in January 2013, has been appointed for a three-year term beginning July 1.

Commenting on his appointment, Chaturvedi said he is looking forward to taking up the new assignment but it was too early to say what his priorities or action plan for the bank would be.

"I don't subscribe to this that (ICICI Bank) is in a mess. Incidents keeping happening, we have to learn lessons from them, rectify them and move ahead. I am sure we will be able to do that," he said. Chaturvedi, who retired as Oil Secretary in January 2013, served in the Department of Financial Services -- the administrative department of banking and insurance sector -- for five years, including as Additional Secretary.

An MSc in Physics and Social Policy from the London School of Economics, UK, and holder of a doctorate in economic history from the University of Oxford, Chaturvedi has served on the boards of IDBI Bank, Canara Bank and Bank of Baroda as government nominee.

He was named Oil Secretary in May 2011 and retired from that position on January 31, 2013.

His appointment will be effective July 1, 2018, for a period of three years, subject to the approval of shareholders, ICICI Bank said.

The board of ICICI Bank selected Chaturvedi from a shortlist of four, including some other IAS officers. Independent directors on the bank's board Uday Chitale and Neelam Dhawan too were considered.

The appointment will provide maturity and sagacity to the deliberations of the board, it added.