ICICI Bank CEO to go on leave

MUMBAI: Chanda Kochhar, chief executive officer (CEO) of ICICI Bank Ltd, will be going on leave as a panel appointed by the lender probes allegations against her.

The bank’s board, which met, here, on Monday, had decided to accept her request to go on leave, according to exchange filings. Sandeep Bakhshi, CEO of ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Co, would be chief operating officer, according to the filing.

The lender’s board decided last month to set up a panel to examine the anonymous complaint that alleges quid pro quo in the course of Kochhar’s work in dealing with certain borrowers of the bank.

The complaint also alleged that the CEO violated regulatory provisions related to conflict of interest over a period of time, according to the filing.

ICICI Bank had appointed B. N. Srikrishna, a retired judge from India’s top court, to investigate these allegations, said people familiar with the matter.

This investigation comes as federal authorities separately conduct a so-called preliminary inquiry into an alleged nexus between a local conglomerate and Kochhar’s husband.

ICICI Bank’s American Depository Receipts jumped three per cent, the most intraday since May 8, after the bank’s exchange filing.

Shares of India’s secondlargest private-sector bank dipped about one per cent, here, yesterday after surging 3.7 per cent the previous day amid reports that the board was considering asking Kochhar to go on leave.

ICICI is the worst performer among private-sector lenders on a 10-member gauge since May 2009, when Kochhar took over as CEO. Its bad-loan ratio is one of the highest among its peers.