ICRA Ltd. on Thursday removed Naresh Takkar as managing director and group chief executive officer, a month after he was sent on forced leave.
This comes after Securities and Exchange Board of India raised concerns over the company's ratings on debt-ridden Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services Ltd.
Takkar's employment has been terminated after taking into account the “best interests” of the company and its various stakeholders, the rating agency said in an exchange filing. Vipul Agarwal, who was appointed as interim chief operating officer on July 1, remains responsible for the day-to-day operations of the company until a CEO is appointed, it said.
In July, ICRA had sent Takkar on forced leave citing “pending enquiry into the concerns raised in an anonymous representation, that was forwarded to the company by the Securities and Exchange Board of India”.
Earlier in May, a media report had said that the company's top management was under investigation for influencing 'AAA' rating on IL&FS and had hired KPMG to look into the allegations.
SEBI had also rejected ICRA's plea for an out-of-court settlement in the IL&FS case, the Economic Times had reported citing a person familiar with the development.
IL&FS's bonds and loans held AAA ratings until August 2018, when ICRA cut the issuer to AA+, the second-highest rank. A month later, a unit of the company defaulted on short-term debt obligations, triggering a liquidity crisis.
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