India's securities regulator is examining ICICI Bank Ltd.'s compliance with disclosure norms in connection with the alleged involvement of CEO and Managing Director Chanda Kochhar in the Videocon Group loan scandal, The Economic Times reported May 23, citing "a person familiar with the development."
The Securities and Exchange Board of India's probe will focus on whether the bank failed to make sufficient disclosures relating to allegations against Kochhar in the Videocon case. The regulator suspects the bank did not report material developments of the case to the stock exchanges.
The loan scandal surfaced in April after reports suggested that Videocon Chairman Venugopal Dhoot invested 640 million rupees in Nu Power Renewables, owned by Deepak Kochhar, the husband of Chanda Kochhar, after the conglomerate obtained 400 billion rupees in loans from a consortium of banks including ICICI Bank in 2012. Indian authorities have been looking into alleged irregularities committed in the loan scandal.
A spokesperson of ICICI Bank said the bank has not received any communication from the regulator. SEBI did not immediately respond to an email by the publication.
As of May 22, US$1 was equivalent to 68.05 Indian rupees.
