Chanda Kochhar, the managing director and chief executive officer of private sector lender ICICI Bank, has called it quits.
The development comes even as the Srikrishna committee, which is probing charges of conflict of interest against her, is yet to officially submit its findings to the bank’s board.
The lender has named Sandeep Bakhshi as the new MD & CEO and handed him a five-year term till October 3, 2023. The appointment is subject to regulatory approvals.
M.D. Mallya, an independent director, has also resigned from the board for “health reasons.”
Mr. Bakhshi was appointed as the chief operating officer in June after the bank constituted a committee, headed by Justice B.N. Srikrishna (retd.), to look into the allegations of conflict of interest against Ms. Kochhar. She had gone on leave after the committee was formed.
In a notification to the exchanges on Thursday, ICICI Bank said Ms. Kochhar had sought early retirement from the bank, which accepted the request immediately. “The enquiry instituted by the board will remain unaffected by this and certain benefits will be subject to the outcome of the enquiry,” the bank said.
Ms. Kochhar will also relinquish office from the board of directors of the bank’s subsidiaries, it said.
Share prices go up
ICICI Bank’s share price spiked after news of Ms. Kochhar’s resignation came in, rising 4% to close the day at ₹315.95 on the BSE, while the broader market fell 2.24% or 806 points.
The controversy over the alleged conflict of interest started when a whistleblower sought an enquiry into the transactions between ICICI Bank, Videocon group and NuPower Renewables — a company promoted by Ms. Kochhar’s husband Deepak Kochhar in 2010.
It was alleged that a company connected with Videocon group chairman Venugopal Dhoot invested ₹64 crore in NuPower in 2010 and later, the proprietorship of the company was transferred to a trust owned by Deepak Kochhar for ₹9 lakh after the Videocon group received a loan of ₹3,250 crore from ICICI Bank in 2012.
