BackICICI Bank has replied to showcause notice, says Sebi
Sebi chairman Ajay Tyagi says that he has no information about any settlement application filed by ICICI Bank
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Mumbai: Markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) today said that ICICI Bank Ltd has replied to its showcause notice with respect to a probe into alleged regulatory lapses involving its chief executive officer Chanda Kochhar, her husband and NuPower Renewables promoter Deepak Kochhar and his business dealings.
Sebi chairman Ajay Tyagi also said that he has no information about any settlement application filed by the bank. Later, a Sebi member clarified that the bank has not filed any formal application.
In a filing, ICICI Bank informed the stock exchanges that it has submitted its response to Sebi’s showcause notice but has not filed any application for settlement.
Sebi had issued showcause notices to ICICI Bank, Chanda Kochhar and others after its preliminary examination favoured initiating adjudication proceedings against them for alleged violation of listing disclosure norms regarding “conflict of interest" in business dealings of Deepak Kochhar with Videocon Group.
ICICI Bank and Chanda Kochhar, however, have maintained there has been no regulatory violation on their part and that she was not aware of specific business dealings of her husband.
According to Sebi’s preliminary probe, Chanda Kochhar’s husband Deepak Kochhar has had many business dealings with Videocon Group over the last several years. Besides, Deepak Kochhar and Videocon chief Venugopal Dhoot were co-founders and promoters of NuPower Renewables, besides other associations.
The cases under scanner include the significant loan exposure of the bank to Videocon Group way back in 2012 and the alleged involvement of Chanda Kochhar’s family members in the restructuring of that loan.
Chanda Kochhar and her family members are facing allegations of quid pro quo and conflict of interest with respect to a loan extended to certain entities.
On Tuesday, ICICI Bank Ltd shares fell 2.07%, or ₹ 6.75, to ₹ 318.70 on the BSE while the benchmark Sensex shed 0.78%, or 294.84 points, to end the day at 37,290.67.
In an earlier version of this story, Press Trust of India had reported “ICICI Bank had sought to settle the issues related to Chanda Kochhar through consent mechanism, said Sebi chairman Ajay Tyagi". PTI has subsequently updated its report.
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