ICICI Bank shareholders seek clarity on Chanda Kochhar’s probe

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Vadodara : The Chanda Kochhar saga dominated the annual general meeting of ICICI Bank here on Wednesday, with shareholders seeking clarity on the allegations of impropriety against the MD & CEO who is on an indefinite leave since June apart from demanding action against her.

Some shareholders, who spoke at the 24th AGM, also questioned the corporate governance practices and standards at the bank, while some rallied in support saying it is just a phase which shall pass.

Kochhar has been away from office following an enquiry initiated under the retired Supreme Court judge BN Srikrishna late May, but continues to hold onto her position as the managing director & chief executive, was absent at the AGM. Government nominee on the board Lok Ranjan was also absent at the hour-long AGM chaired by newly-appointed chairman GC Chaturvedi.

Last month’s reappointment of Kochhar on the board of the bank’s broking arm ICICI Securities despite she being under probe also peeved many shareholders, who questioned the decision.

Many shareholders also spoke against the core issue of sanctioning loans to the Venugopal Dhoot-run Videocon Industries, which is currently facing bankruptcy proceedings.

Many shareholders also sought stern action from the bank on any misdoings on the part of Kochhar, while some also called for a restructuring of the top leadership given the allegations and questioned the board for initially backing Kochhar.

In March, the board backed her in a public statement and said loans to Videocon was part of a consortium and ICICI Bank was not the lead banker.

Too much focus on tech-driven lending a concern

MUMBAI: Stating that people can “game” credit bureau scores and doubt the authenticity of tax returns, a top ICICI Bank official has cautioned against excessive use of computer algorithms in lending and has called for applying “human judgement”. The warning by one of the largest private sector lenders comes even as banks, including ICICI Bank itself, and new-age fintechs are increasingly using credit scores issued by companies like Cibil and other online tools to assess creditworthiness of a borrower for quicker turnaround of credit proposals.