Videocon loan row: ICICI Bank could appoint Sandeep Bakhshi as interim chief this week

ICICI Bank could reportedly appoint Sandeep Bakhshi, the CEO of the lender’s life insurance arm, as the interim chief of the bank.

Bakhshi might be appointed the interim chief of the bank as early as this week, a report in  The Economic Times  said. He will assume Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Chanda Kochhar’s duties, currently on her annual leave.

“Someone from the bank may also move to ICICI Prudential Life to head it in the interim. But some Board members also felt that an interim CEO could be a bit destabilising for the institution,’’ unnamed sources close to the development were quoted as saying by the newspaper.

The move follows news of former Supreme Court judge  BN Srikrishna  accepting the lender’s request to preside over an investigation that will look into allegations that Kochhar did not adhere to provisions relating to the bank’s “code of conduct”.

Srikrishna will also examine whether Kochhar was involved in quid pro quo transactions with certain borrowers. Last week, the bank’s Chairman MK Sharma, according to the  Business Standard , wrote to Board members asking them whether Kochhar should be asked to go on indefinite leave until the Srikrishna internal enquiry is concluded.

Planned annual leave

On 1 June, the bank said that Kochhar had gone on a planned annual leave, and not on forced leave as reported by the media.

So far, the allegations have questioned the involvement of Kochhar and her family members in a loan provided to the Videocon Group, supposedly on a quid pro quo basis. It has been alleged that Videocon pumped money into NuPower Renewables, a firm owned by Chanda’s husband Deepak Kochhar.

The RBI, the CBI and markets regulator Sebi are also looking into the matter.

Besides, the controversy has come under the scanner of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as ICICI Bank is listed in the US.

Sebi has already issued show-cause notices to ICICI Bank and to Kochhar as part of its probe.

With inputs from agencies.