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- No reference has been made to the Union Corporate Affairs Ministry by its Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) on the issue involving the ICICI Bank and Videocon Group, its Secretary Injeti Srinivas said on Wednesday. Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a conference Srinivas, however, also said that it is well within the rights of the SFIO to make a reference on the matter. "If the SFIO considers it necessary to make a reference to the ministry, it is well within its ambit," he said, adding that no such reference had been made to the ministry.
- The National Stock Exchange (NSE) on Wednesday sought a clarification from ICICI Bank with respect to a news article titled "SFIO awaits ministry nod to investigate ICICI-Videocon case". The response is still awaited from the bank.
- ICICI Bank had received two separate emails dated April 2 from NSE seeking clarifications regarding the articles published in various newspapers. The stock exchange asked if the matter, as reported in the bank's statement to the press, was brought before the audit committee and whether the committee had reviewed the internal control systems.
- ICICI Bank, in response to the queries above, said that a board meeting was held on March 28. The board includes all the members of the audit committee. It had reviewed the matter pertaining to the Rs 3,250 crore loan to Videocon. In the same meeting, the board had noted that the bank has a well-structured and standardised credit approval process, where multiple independent departments are involved in providing independent credit risk taking, doing credit appraisal, credit approvals and monitoring the proposals. The bank also clarified, in the same stock market filing, that the board statement was issued after the facts from an internal review (undertaken in 2016) were taken note of. There was no material finding that indicating any lapse.
- On Monday, the stock exchange had also asked for an explanation from ICICI Bank relating to a news item with a title that reads 'ED initiates enquiry in ICICI-Videocon loan, asks SEBI for document'. The same day, the company told NSE, that it was unaware of any communication from the enforcement directorate (ED) relating to any enquiry into the loan granted to Videocon group.
- I-T department has asked Deepak Kochhar to furnish details of his personal finances, Income Tax Returns (ITRs) for the last few years and business transactions with NuPower Renewables, apart from other financial details of the company.
- The department has also sent a detailed questionnaire, seeking details of the firm's operations, to be answered by him.
- The tax department has launched a probe into the finances of NuPower Renewables and those associated with it, officials said.
- A few more notices have been sent to the people associated with NuPower Renewables and based on their replies, further action will be taken, they said. In a related development, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officials said that Deepak Kochhar, who has been named in a preliminary enquiry, will be called for questioning soon. Besides, the CBI had questioned a few ICICI Bank officials as part of a preliminary enquiry to find out if any quid pro quo was involved in the bank issuing the Rs 3,250 crore loan to the Videocon Group in 2012.
- A preliminary enquiry (PE) is a precursor before the agency lodges a first information report (FIR) to probe criminal charges on the basis of evidence collected during the former exercise.
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