Kotak Securities sacks research head

Kotak Securities, the largest brokerage house in the country, has sacked a senior official, Amitabh Chakraborty, for violating internal policies, procedures and its code of conduct.

Chakraborty was the vice president and head of research of Kotak Securities' private client group. Chakraborty was not available for comment.

D Kannan, chief operating officer at Kotak Securities, said, "We confirm having asked Mr Amitabh Chakraborty, the head of research of our PCG, to step down for having violated our internal policies and procedures and the code of conduct applicable to our employees.

"At the Kotak Mahindra group and at Kotak Securities, maintaining the highest standards of governance has always been our top priority." Chakraborty spent about a year at Kotak.

Industry watchers said that this incident where a senior official in a broking house had been asked to leave was the first of its kind.

They added that while asking people to leave for non-performance was 'normal', sacking a senior person for internal violations is new and will go a long way in making this industry professional.