ICICI Bank loan row: SEBI serves notice to Chanda Kochhar, lender on dealings with Videocon and NuPower Renewables

Mumbai: Market regulator SEBI has served a notice to ICICI Bank CEO and MD Chanda Kochhar on the bank’s dealings with Videocon Group and NuPower Renewables, an entity in which her husband Deepak Kochhar has economic interests, the private sector lender said on Friday. An appropriate response will be submitted to the SEBI, ICICI Bank, India’s largest private bank, said in a stock exchange filing. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has initiated a preliminary investigation into the Rs 3,250 crore ICICI loan extended to Videocon in 2012 and the possible role of Kochhar’s husband – Deepak. Reports have alleged that Videocon chairman Venugopal Dhoot invested Rs 64 crore in NuPower Renewables, a firm owned by Deepak after Videocon secured a loan from a consortium of banks, including ICICI. [caption id=“attachment_643267” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] A file photo of Chanda Kochhar. Reuters.[/caption] ICICI has denied any wrongdoing in the loan, saying it was part of a consortium of lenders that extended the facility to Videocon. “The MD & CEO and the Bank received a Notice from SEBI on 24 May, 2018 … requiring responses on 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,” the bank said in the filing. The notice, it further said has been issued based on information furnished by the bank / its MD & CEO to diverse queries made by SEBI concerning dealings between the bank and the Videocon Group and certain dealings allegedly between Videocon Group and Nupower. “Appropriate responses would be submitted to SEBI by the bank in accordance with regulation,” ICICI Bank added. Last month, ICICI Bank Chairman MK Sharma said the bank’s Board has full confidence in Chanda Kochhar and ruled out any quid pro quo as alleged with regard to the loan given to the Videocon group. Earlier, the bank had clarified that none of the investors of NuPower Renewables were borrowers of ICICI Bank.