ICICI Bank’s Board Accepts Chanda Kochhar’s Resignation

The ICICI Bank's Board of Directors today announced the exit of Chanda Kochhar, its CEO and MD as it accepted her previous plea for early retirement. Mr Sandeep Bakhshi has been appointed to replace her as the Managing Director and Chief Executive Offer of ICICI Bank with immediate effect.

Chanda Kochhar was entangled into allegations which charged her with conflict of interest in a case in which her husband was being a beneficiary of loans from the ICICI Bank's borrowers.

Currently, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is probing into the said allegations that Chanda Kochhar's husband Deepak Kochhar's entity NuPower Renewables received an investment from a Videocon group company as a quid pro quo for a loan from the ICICI Bank.

The bank in its statement read that the ongoing enquiry instituted by the ICICI Board will remain unaffected by this and certain benefits will be subject to the outcome of the enquiry. With this, Kochhar will stand to relinquish office from the Board of Directors of the Bank's subsidiaries as well.

Sandeep Bakshshi will be appointed for a period of five years until October 3, 2023, as the MD and CEO of ICICI Bank. Mr Bakshshi previously held the position of the Chief Operating Officer of ICICI Bank. He came on the Board once Kochhar was asked to go on an extended leave over an internal investigation into charges of impropriety in her role in the Videocon loan case. Bakshshi is an ICICI veteran who has over 30 years of experience in ICICI. He joined ICICI during 1986 when the institution was still a financial institution.

Following, the outbreak of this news the scrips of ICICI Bank rose up by 5.23 percent to hit Rs 319.50 on BSE at 14:36 pm (IST).