Bank Not Above Board
Why did the ICICI Bank board wait 10 months to act against its erstwhile CEO?
- Feb 5, 2019,
- Updated Feb 8, 2019 7:12 PM IST
It cleared her last March and then sacked Chanda Kochhar in end-January, even withdrawing future entitlements. But why did the ICICI Bank board wait 10 months to act against its erstwhile CEO?
Earlier, expressing full faith in Kochhar, it said there was no question of any quid pro quo, nepotism, or conflict of interest. On the Videocon scandal, ICICI functionaries went on record that the loans were sanctioned by a committee that included, the then ICICI Bank chairman (not Kochhar). No individual employee irrespective of position has the ability to influence credit decisions at the bank, was another much repeated statement then. Kochhar reacted to the dismissal saying none of her "credit decisions" were unilateral.
The question is was the ICICI Bank board under pressure to clear Kochhar then? And, why the hurry to damn her now?
It cleared her last March and then sacked Chanda Kochhar in end-January, even withdrawing future entitlements. But why did the ICICI Bank board wait 10 months to act against its erstwhile CEO?
Earlier, expressing full faith in Kochhar, it said there was no question of any quid pro quo, nepotism, or conflict of interest. On the Videocon scandal, ICICI functionaries went on record that the loans were sanctioned by a committee that included, the then ICICI Bank chairman (not Kochhar). No individual employee irrespective of position has the ability to influence credit decisions at the bank, was another much repeated statement then. Kochhar reacted to the dismissal saying none of her "credit decisions" were unilateral.
The question is was the ICICI Bank board under pressure to clear Kochhar then? And, why the hurry to damn her now?