Yes - We failed in discharging our Duty

 An interesting article appeared in Business Today (December 08, 2020) magazine stating the following:

Dhoot told agency officials that he did not have any choice but to accept the quid pro quo offer by Kochhars as well as transfer Rs 64 crore to Deepak Kochhar-owned NRPL, otherwise, the loan proposals would have been in limbo. The ICICI Bank sanctioned loans worth around Rs 1,875 crore to the Videocon group and its sister concerns between 2009 and 2011, which were in complete violation of banking regulations and ICICI Bank policies.

For a Bank following three committees formed by the board is very important:

• Credit
• Risk
• Fraud monitoring

Lets see which board members of ICICI Bank were part of these committees in the crucial years of 2009 to 2011:

Committee	Credit			Fraud Monitoring			Risk			T
Members	08-09	09-10	10-11	08-09	09-10	10-11	08-09	09-10	10-11
K V Kamath	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	9
Chanda Kochhar	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	9
V Sridhar					✓	✓		✓	✓	4
M K Sharma	✓	✓		✓	✓					4
V Prem Vatsa							✓	✓	✓	3
Sridhar Iyengar							✓	✓	✓	3
Narendra Murkumbi	✓	✓		✓						3
Anup K Pujari						✓		✓	✓	3
Homi Khusrokhan			✓			✓				2
M S Ramachandran		✓	✓							2
Sandeep Bakshi				✓	✓					2
PM Sinha	✓									1
Rajiv Sabharval						✓				1
Marti G Subramanyam							✓			1

Source: Annual Report of 2008-09, 2009-10, 2010-11 and T - Total

The question is incase of three crucial years two names appeared on all the three committees:

• K V Kamath
• Chanda Kochhar

The best part is nowhere K V Kamath name is appearing in the ICICI Bank case.

If he was there in all the three committees which are related to the core functions of a bank, then he failed in delivering the work he is supposed to do.

It is extremely disappointing to see Kamath appointed by Reserve Bank of India in Report of the Expert Committee on Resolution Framework for Covid-19 related Stress as Chairman.

Remember KV Kamath graduated from IIM Ahmedabad.

As Sherlock Homes stated food for thought we have to ask:

Where is K V Kamath in ICICI Bank Dhoot case?

Why media is silent on KV Kamath in ICICI Bank Dhoot case?

Or

If KV Kamath was clean and he was taken for a ride by Chanda Kochhar, then his Top Banker credentials are questionable?

All the other distinguished members of the three committees should acknowledge openly that they failed in discharging their duty.

Awards to KV Kamath (source : Wikipedia)

Most e-savvy CEO amongst Asian Banks – The Asian Banker Journal of Singapore

Finance Man of the Year Award – The Mumbai Management Association

Best CEO for Innovative HR Practices – World HRD Congress

Asian Business Leader of the Year – Asian Business Leader Award 2001 (CNBC Asia)

Outstanding Business Leader of the Year – CNBC-TV18, 2006

Businessman of the Year – Business India, 2005

Business Leader Award of the Year – The Economic Times, 2007

Businessman of the Year – Forbes Asia

Padma Bhushan Award from the Indian government – 2008