Product details

Technically, the term 'Conflict of Interest' depicts a situation in which a person who holds certain position attempts to derive personal benefits for him or her or for the family members from the actions or decisions made during his or her official capacity. In March 2018, ICICI Bank Limited (ICICI Bank),one of India's biggest private sector banks and a most esteemed one, faced certain allegations on Chanda Kochhar, MD and CEO of the bank. The allegations were arising out of the complex business transactions carried out between Chanda Kochhar's family members and the Videocon Group, a large diversified Indian company. Arvind Gupta, Founder-trustee of 'Indian Investors Protection Council', and investor in the Videocon Group, alleged that Chanda Kochhar had faced a conflict of interest when the bank gave a whopping INR32.5 billion loan to Videocon Group in 2012. Surprisingly, in 2017, the bank declared INR28.1 billion loan as Non-Performing Assets, raised eye brows of many watchers. According to experts, whether Chanda Kochhar informally pushed the loan to the Videocon Group because of benefits received by her family members from the promoters of the company became a point of debate. However, the board of the bank denied such allegations on their leader. But, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), country's premier investigative agency, Income-Tax Department and the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), country's security market regulator ordered probe into such incident. Amidst such situation, ICICI Bank announced that Chanda Kochhar has been sent on leave until the probe was completed. But, in early October 2018, in a major development, the 'high-profile woman banker in India', Chanda Kochhar resigned from her position. Amidst such scenario, Fitch Ratings, a leading rating agency raised doubts over the strengths of corporate governance practices at the bank.