Mumbai: ICICI Bank Ltd is in the process of responding to the showcause notice issued by markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) over disclosure of information in the matter of alleged conflict of interest while granting of loans to the Videocon group, the private sector lender said late evening on Monday. The information is part of the 20-F document, the bank’s annual filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
On 23 May, Sebi had sent a 12-page notice to the bank and its CEO Chanda Kochhar alleging violation of Listing Obligation and Disclosure Requirements (LODR) and for not making adequate disclosures. The regulator had set a deadline of 7 June for the bank to respond to its allegations, which was then extended to 10 July.
In its filings with the US SEC, ICICI Bank also admitted for the first time that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has initiated a preliminary enquiry against various individuals and firms including officials of the bank. The bank, however, did not elaborate on the names of these officers or the charges levelled against them. But according to a 2 April Mint report citing a senior CBI official, CBI has registered an enquiry against Deepak Kochhar, husband of ICICI Bank CEO Chanda Kochhar and Venugopal Dhoot, chairman of Videocon group to verify the ₹ 4,000 crore loan to the company.
In its US SEC filing, ICICI Bank also said that the audit committee of the bank has initiated an independent enquiry, headed by former Supreme Court judge Justice B.N. Srikrishna, to consider various allegations relating to Kochhar. This, the bank said, is being supported by an independent law firm and a forensic firm. These allegations pertain to a complaint filed by an anonymous whistleblower in March this year, alleging that bank incorrectly classified certain assets, accounted for interest income and recoveries from non-performing assets as fees, and improperly valued loan collateral.
In its notice to shareholders ahead of its annual general meeting, ICICI Bank disclosed the annual remuneration of the new chief operating officer Sandeep Bakhshi, who took charge of the bank following Kochhar’s leave of absence. Bakhshi’s salary for the current financial year is ₹ 4,81,62,000 which includes a basic salary of ₹ 23,81,000 a month and supplementary allowance of ₹ 16,32,500 a month. Kochhar, on the other hand, took home a salary of ₹ 6.4 crore during FY18 as compared to ₹ 5.6 crore a year ago.