Shares of ICICI Bank jumped by more than 4% on the National Stock Exchange on Monday after a report in The Economic Times said that the private lender’s board of directors is considering replacing Chief Executive Officer Chanda Kochhar with an interim chief. The bank and the Centre are investigating Kochhar for charges of conflict of interest, favouritism and quid pro quo deals.
The ICICI board of directors may appoint Sandeep Bakhshi, the chief of its life insurance venture, as the interim chief executive officer of the bank while the investigation led by retired Supreme Court judge BN Srikrishna goes on. “There have been discussions on having Bakhshi as the officiating CEO, but the board is yet to sign off on this,’’ unidentified officials told The Economic Times.
The ICICI board of directors may also ask Kochhar to go on leave until the investigation is complete, the report said.
Following this report, ICICI Bank shares rose 4.07% at the National Stock Exchange to close at Rs 294 per share. ICICI Bank is the worst performer among 10 private sector lenders on the stock market since 2009, Bloomberg reported. Its bad loans ratio is one of the highest among its peers in that time period.
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