ICICI Bank's ex-CEO Kochhar appeared for hearing before Sebi on Nov 19

Sources said Kochhar has reiterated her stand to the regulator and had claimed that she adhered to all requisite disclosures

ICICI Bank’s former managing director and chief executive officer Chanda Kochhar appeared for a personal hearing before market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on November 19, said sources. The hearing was for the case of alleged disclosure-related violations against her. 
 
Sources say Kochhar limited her submission around the bank’s code of conduct ethics and the loan-approval procedure, which she claimed was immune to the individual interference.
 
“She decided of her own accord to participate and witness the proceeding and accordingly recorded the statement with the regulator,” said another person privy to the development.
 
Sources in the know said Kochhar had reiterated her stand to the regulator and had claimed that all the requisite disclosures were adhered to by her according to the extant code of conduct of the bank mandated for the top management and senior employees.
 
She also said an individual cannot affect the loan decision making in the bank because of the processes it followed and the whole chain of people who were involved in the process.
 
“The bank procedures are independent of any individual being in a position to influence the outcome. This includes bank executives from the accounts manager to the head of business. So cases not meriting processing would not reach the credit committee,” she said in a statement.
 
Kochhar has elaborated the chronology of events, her limited role in the loan disbursement, particularly in the case of Videocon Industries, and the process involved in the sanctioning of corporate loans, said a source.
 
Kochhar also said she was bound by the confidentiality clause and hence never had discussed business dealings with husband Deepak Kochhar, promoter of NuPower Renewables and Videocon group promoter Venugopal Dhoot.
 
The code of conduct violation is Sebi’s main allegation in the show-cause notice against Chanda Kochhar. While in the case of ICICI Bank, Sebi is investigating whether or not it made due disclosures to the stock exchanges. Sebi served show-cause notices on bothon May 23.
 
Kochhar resigned from her position last month, around six months after the allegations were levelled against her. She had been on indefinite leave since June, soon after the board was forced to appoint an external probe under former Supreme Court Justice B N Srikrishna to look into the matter.