Markets regulator Sebi has served a notice to ICICI Bank MD and CEO Chanda Kochhar regarding the bank's dealings with NuPower, a company run by her husband Deepak Kochhar and Videocon group. Sebi has asked Chanda to respond to matters “relating to alleged non-compliance with certain provisions of the erstwhile listing agreement and the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015”. ICICI revealed the news in a filing with the BSE. It also said an appropriate response would be submitted to Sebi.
The regulator has been making inquiries since reports began to emerge two months back about the dealings between ICICI Bank, Videocon group and NuPower. The latest notice was served to Chanda based on information that the bank and its top executive had furnished to Sebi. The regulator apparently believes that certain matters relating to the dealings between the bank's MD, her husband and Videocon, were not disclosed to the board. It has alleged that Venugopal Dhoot, chairman of Videocon group, had invested £6.4 million in NuPower Renewables, a firm owned by Deepak Kochhar.
ICICI had earlier said that there was no wrongdoing in the way it sanctioned the loan to Videocon group since it was part of a consortium of banks that lent the money. MK Sharma, chairman of the bank, said the board had full confidence in Chanda Kochhar and he had ruled out any quid pro quo in the ICICI Bank-Videocon-NuPower matter.
