The board of ICICI Bank on Friday named retired Indian Administrative Service officer Girish Chandra Chaturvedi as non-executive part-time chairperson. The term of the incumbent chairperson, MK Sharma, ends on June 30.
The appointment will be effective from July 1 or the date of receipt of Reserve Bank of India’s approval, whichever is later, the bank said in an exchange filing, bank said in a statement. The board also appointed Chaturvedi as an additional independent director for three years. Shareholders have to approve this decision.
“The board is extremely pleased with this development and believes that Mr Chaturvedi will provide maturity and sagacity to the deliberations of the board,” the statement read. “This would also ensure a seamless and smooth transition of leadership at the board and would address stakeholder concerns in this behalf.”
Chaturvedi served as a secretary in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas in 2011. He has also served as additional secretary of financial services at the Ministry of Finance. After his retirement he served on the boards of banks such as IDBI Bank Ltd, Bank of Baroda and Canara Bank.
His appointment comes at a time when the bank is facing one of its worst management crises. The bank’s Chief Executive Officer Chanda Kochhar is facing allegations of conflict of interest and has been forced to go on leave till an independent investigation is completed.
The allegations pertain to a Rs 3,250-crore loan the bank sanctioned to the Videocon Group in 2012. Videocon Group Chief Executive Officer Venugopal Dhoot allegedly provided crores of rupees to a company that Kochhar’s husband had founded six months after his company received the loan. The loan was part of Rs 40,000 crore that Videocon secured from a consortium of 20 banks. On June 25, reports said that the Securities and Exchange Board of India has recommended adjudication proceedings against the bank and Kochhar for allegedly violating disclosure norms.
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