Chanda Kochhar, who is in the midst of a probe by ICICI Bank and other regulatory agencies, is seeking reappointment as a director on the board of ICICI Securities, the financial services arm of the ICICI Group.
The AGM of the recently listed entity will be held on August 30, where shareholders can vote on the reappointment of Ms. Kochhar, 56, who has been on the board of ICICI Securities since October 2008.
Ms. Kochhar, who is currently on leave, is facing conflict of interest allegations, with ICICI Bank setting up an independent panel under former Supreme Court judge B.N. Srikrishna to look into the matter.
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Separately, SEBI and CBI are conducting inquiries in the matter involving the Videocon group and NuPower Renewables, a firm run by Ms. Kochhar’s husband Deepak Kochhar.
Interestingly, proxy advisory firms are of the view that shareholders can vote for the reappointment of Ms. Kochhar as till date no inquiry report has confirmed the allegations against the ICICI Bank chief.
“Currently, there are only allegations against her and one cannot take a negative view based on allegations,” said J.N. Gupta, MD, Stakeholders Empowerment Services. “Till date, there is neither any regulatory action against her nor there are any findings of the Srikrishna panel. So we are not recommending voting against her reappointment,” Mr. Gupta added.
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Ms. Kochhar serves as a director on various other ICICI Group companies such as ICICI Bank, ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company and ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company, ICICI Prudential Asset Management Company and ICICI Bank Canada.
Shares under pressure
Shares of ICICI Securities have been under pressure since their debut on the bourses in April. The shares are trading at ₹322.65, almost 38% lower than the issue price of ₹520.