ICICI Bank has completely rejected the allegations leveled by the Congress against Madhabi Puri Buch, the chief of market regulator SEBI. Giving its clarification in this controversy, the bank has categorically stated that after the retirement of the SEBI chairperson, no salary or any ESOP has been given to her except her retirement benefits. Let us tell you that while targeting the BJP by making Buch an issue, the Congress on Monday claimed that the SEBI chief was taking salary simultaneously from three places, ICICI Bank, ICICI Prudential and SEBI. However, the impact of the name coming in this controversy has been seen on the ICIC Bank share and it opened on the red mark with a decline on Tuesday.
What did ICICI Bank say?
Giving its clarification on the allegations of Congress, ICICI Bank has said that ICICI Bank or its other unit has given only retirement benefits to Madhabi Puri Buch after her retirement, apart from this no salary or any ESOP has been given. The bank’s statement said that it is worth noting that the SEBI chief had chosen the retirement option from the bank from October 31, 2013. During his employment with the group, he received salary, bonus, ESOP and retirement benefits as per the policies set by the bank, while no extra benefit was given after retirement.
Congress had made these allegations
Recently, American short seller firm Hindenburg had made serious allegations against the SEBI chief, since then Madhabi Puru Buch has been on the target of the Congress. On Monday, Pawan Khera, Chairman of the Media and Publicity Department of the Congress, made several claims about the SEBI chief while holding a press conference. He also targeted the BJP and said, “A game of chess is going on in this country but we have not reached a conclusive conclusion on who the player is. There are different pawns. We are going to talk about one of those pawns, whose name is Madhabi Puru Buch.” He had said that Madhabi Buch was a member of SEBI, after which she became the chairperson on 2 March 2022, but till she became the SEBI chief, she was taking salary from three places. She was taking salary simultaneously from ICICI Bank, ICICI Prudential and SEBI.
Pawan Khera, while presenting the figures, further said that SEBI Chairman Madhabi Puri Buch received a regular income of Rs 16.8 crore from ICICI Bank between 2017 and 2024. He raised the question that if you are a full-time SEBI member, then why were you taking salary from ICICI Bank. Not only this, you were also taking ESOP and its TDS from ICICI Bank. ICICI Bank has issued a statement regarding these and clarified the situation.
Keep an eye on ICICI Bank shares
The impact of the inclusion of ICICI Bank’s name in the allegations against the SEBI chief and the clarification given by the bank on this was seen on this banking stock today. On the last trading day when these allegations were made by the Congress, ICICI Bank share closed with a slight decline. After opening at Rs. 1239, this stock closed at Rs. 1229.05 at the end of trading in the stock market. On Tuesday also, this stock witnessed a decline. In the initial trading, this stock opened at Rs. 1227.20 and fell to Rs. 122.05 within a few minutes.
(Note- Before making any investment in the stock market, please consult your market experts.)
Source (PTI) (NDTV) (HINDUSTANTIMES)