The Central Bureau of Investigation on Monday told a special court here that former ICICI Bank CEO and MD Chanda Kochhar misappropriated the lender's funds for personal use. The probe agency, represented by special public prosecutor A Limosin, made this argument while urging the special court to take cognizance of the chargesheet filed against Chanda Kochhar, her husband Deepak Kochhar and others in a case pertaining to cheating and irregularities in sanctioning of loans to Videocon Group firms. Chanda Kochhar was MD and CEO of ICICI Bank between May 2009 and January 2019 in which capacity she was entrusted with the Bank's funds, the CBI told court.
India's economic growth slipped to 6.7 per cent in '09, mainly on account of the impact of the global financial meltdown that started in the US in 2008.
IBoard defends MD on nepotism charges, quashes allegations; it also reviewed its internal processes and exposure to the Videocon group
Most legal experts indicate the former ICICI Bank CEO will take the matter to court. Her contention will be she can't be fired and called guilty without proof.
Kochhar's counsel argued that according to Section 35B (b) of the Banking Regulation Act, prior approval of the RBI is required to terminate the contract of a bank's chairman or managing director. But in this case, the RBI approval came after the termination letter was served.
Kochhar was directed to return about Rs 10 crore in cash bonuses she had received as CEO, and also give up close to 6 million shares of the bank she had as stock option, which was about Rs 350 crore.
Indian corporate are increasingly shifting away from bank funding towards alternative sources, such as equity and bond markets, as their deleveraged balance sheets have improved their ability to raise equity at better valuations. Moreover, the 100 basis points (bps) rate cut by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has enabled them to access long-term funds from the debt capital market at cheaper rates.
The report concluded that she failed to discharge her fiduciary functions to rescue herself to avoid any conflict of interest.
'She was either overconfident that nothing will happen to her or she underestimated the gravity of the allegations.'
With the 50 bps rate cut now more banks are expected to reduce their base rate.
The country's largest private sector bank ICICI Bank said on Tuesday it does not expect a slowdown in credit growth following the hike of 0.25 per cent in overnight rates by the Reserve Bank of India.
As she begins her second term as MD & CEO, Chanda Kochhar wants the bank to grow more than the industry not by taking on more risk but by building a strong base of customers and shunning the pell-mell marketing of credit card and personal loans to newcomers.
The regulator in its notice alleged violations of the code of conduct because Chanda Kochhar reportedly had not disclosed the conflict of interest arising out of business dealings among ICICI Bank, Videocon and NuPower Renewables, led by her husband, Deepak Kochhar.
Of the existing set of potential leaders, Bakhshi was clearly the only choice as he beat out other high-level candidates that included executive directors Anup Bagchi, Vishakha Mulye, NS Kannan, and Vijay Chandok who were lacking the all-round game that Bakhshi has.
There are allegations of involvement of Kochhar and her family members in a loan provided to Videocon group on a quid pro quo basis.
After 24 years at the helm, Narayan Vaghul, the non-executive chairman of ICICI Bank, will call it a day in March next year. His protege and the current chief executive officer and managing director K V Kamath is likely to step into Vaghul's shoes after his term ends in April.
Kamath also served on the board of Infosys.
ICICI Bank, the country's largest private sector lender, which has identified infrastructure as one of its growth drivers, sees projects worth Rs 150,000 crore for achieving financial closure in the next three to four months.
NuPower will return loan with interest to consumer durables major by 2021
The ICICI board is looking to the retired petroleum secretary to provide 'maturity and sagacity'.
The RBI, according to the source, wants details on the procedure followed for credit appraisal by the bank while giving loans to Videocon.
Corporate India is not bothered about the subprime crisis. I have not seen any large business house walk away from a deal on account of lack of funding.
ICICI Bank on Saturday said its March quarter consolidated net profit grew 18.5 per cent to Rs 11,672 crore, helped by lower provisions. On a standalone basis, the second largest private sector lender showed a 17.4 per cent growth in its profit after tax at Rs 10,708 crore for the reporting quarter against Rs 9,122 crore in the year-ago period. For fiscal 2023-24, its standalone net profit grew to Rs 40,888 crore from Rs 31,896 crore a year ago.
Over 50 per cent, or 660 stocks, from the BSE 1000 index recorded negative returns during CY25.
A corporate lawyer said that this is the biggest failure of corporate governance in this country. He pointed out that American investors can even take the bank to court for giving false statements to stock exchanges and even file class action suits. Some even questioned how RBI overlooked Kochhar's misdeed.
Canadian firm Manulife and Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M), an Indian automaker with interests in financial services, have signed an agreement to form a 50:50 life insurance joint venture (JV) with a total capital commitment of up to Rs 3,600 crore each totalling Rs 7,200 crore.
ICICI Bank said on Thursday it has constituted a Rs 100 crore (Rs 1 billion) loan fund for assisting companies engaged in the green business or abetting eco-friendly activity.
While Chanda Kochhar got a pay of Rs 2.66 crore, Arundhati Bhattacharya took home only Rs 28.96 lakh
ICICI Bank on Monday said it sees no impact of the Greek debt crisis on the bank as it has no exposure to Europe.
Other private banks also planning to employ bots soon
With several $500 million-plus deals in the pipeline -- including ICICI Prudential AMC, Lenskart, PhonePe, Groww, PhysicsWallah, Meesho, Pine Labs, and Zepto -- investment bankers look poised for another year of hefty bonuses in 2025.
India's corporate bond market, driven by public sector undertaking (PSU) banks and financial institutions last year, is losing momentum since the second quarter of FY26.
The introduction of more technology platforms has also helped.
ICICI Bank, the country's biggest private lender, expects overseas business to account for at least one-fourth of its balance sheet in 2008 and is targeting a place among the world's top ten banks within five years.
ICICI Bank has quashed rumours of favouritism, nepotism and quid pro quo. The bank clarified that while Chanda Kochhar was on the credit committee, she was not the chairperson. Videocon Chairman Venugopal Dhoot said there was no impropriety in the deal.
If India grows at 8 per cent, the Indian banks will grow much faster.
American technology giant Apple's chief executive Tim Cook on Wednesday met ICICI Bank's top brass at the country's largest private sector lender's corporate headquarters in Mumbai.
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