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The board of directors of ICICI bank, based on the report of Head of Enquiry (HOE) has decided to terminate former Managing Director and CEO Chanda Kochhar from the bank. The bank released a statement: “Ms Chanda Kochhar was in violation of the ICICI Bank Code of Conduct, its framework for dealing with conflict of interest and fiduciary duties, and in terms of applicable Indian laws, rules and regulations.”
Former Supreme Court judge B. N. Srikrishna, who was tasked to undertake a comprehensive enquiry on allegations against Chanda Kochhar, concluded that she lacked diligence with respect to annual disclosures, the ICICI Bank Code of Conduct and applicable Indian laws, rules and regulations on her interests towards avoidance of conflict of interest.
The report also claimed that “the Bank’s processes were rendered ineffective by her approach to such disclosures and avoidance of conflict.” The statement said that the board has decided “to treat the separation of Ms Chanda Kochhar from the Bank as a ‘Termination for Cause’ under the Bank’s internal policies, schemes and the Code of Conduct, with all attendant consequences.”
This means that all of her existing and future entitlements such as any unpaid amounts, unpaid bonuses or increments, unvested and vested & unexercised stock options, and medical benefits will be revoked. The bank also states that all the bonuses paid from April 2009 until March 2018 to Kochhar will be required to clawed back.
