Sebi warns ICICI Bank over investor outreach for ICICI Securities delisting

June 6, 2024

India's markets regulator has warned ICICI Bank over its employees reaching out to shareholders of its unit, ICICI Securities, to urge them to vote in favour of the unit delisting from stock exchanges, the bank said on Wednesday.

ICICI Securities, a subsidiary of ICICI Bank, had secured a shareholder nod in March for the delisting.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India's (Sebi) warning letter to ICICI Bank says it received several complaints that the bank made multiple attempts to persuade ICICI Securities' shareholders to vote in favour of the delisting.

The bank argued that the so-called outreach was to present a factual position of the transaction.

The regulator said that since ICICI Bank was an interested party in the transaction, there was a conflict of interest and thus, the outreach was inappropriate.

"This has been viewed seriously," the Sebi said.

[Reuters]