(LiveMint)
ICICI Bank CEO Chanda Kochhar has been asked to proceed on indefinite leave from the company she has helmed for almost a decade until an independent enquiry announced by the lender’s board to probe alleged cases of impropriety is concluded, according to a person with direct knowledge of the board’s decision.
The decision to ask Kochhar to go on leave has been taken on the advice of a majority of the seven independent directors on the bank’s board, the person said. The enquiry, likely to be headed by a retired judge of the Supreme Court, will begin next week and will be completed in two months, he added.
“A new whistleblower complaint came 15-20 days back. It came to our notice as well. The bank’s board and top management first met and then the independent directors decided to meet separately. So the independent directors met on 29 May. The charges made against the bank and its CEO are quite harsh and the independent directors thought that such allegations cannot be dealt with internally,” the person said on condition of anonymity.
