ICICI Videocon loan controversy: Some Board members may not back Chanda Kochhar, say sources

New Delhi: Some members in the ICICI Bank Board may not favour continuation of Chanda Kochhar as CEO and Managing Director of the bank amid allegation of nepotism in the Videocon loan case, said sources.

Kochhar’s continuation at the top post may not find favour from some of the independent directors, they said.

According to the reports, Kochhar’s husband Deepak Kochhar had formed a joint venture with Videocon promoter Venugopal Dhoot for a business dealing in renewable energy and there were a string of transactions later, which gave him full control of the venture after the exit of Dhoot. Late last month, the bank admitted that Kochhar did not recuse herself from a credit committee meeting which decided to give a Rs 3,250 crore loan to diversified Videocon Group in 2012. [caption id=“attachment_4378535” align=“alignleft” width=“385”]  ICICI Bank CEO Chanda Kochhar. Reuters image[/caption] The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has initiated a preliminary enquiry into the matter to check any wrongdoing, while other agencies, including the Enforcement Directorate (ED), are also investigating the case. However, the bank’s Board has stood firmly behind Chanda Kochhar, saying no wrong was committed by her, and the committee was headed by the bank’s then chief K V Kamath. Global ratings agency Fitch on Monday said it is doubtful about the strength of corporate governance at ICICI Bank. The ratings agency said allegations against ICICI Bank are coming against a backdrop of high non-performing assets in the banking sector, some of which have been linked to fraudulent lending.