Congress says Sebi chief drawing salary from ICICI; Bank denies

NEW DELHI: The Congress on Monday charged Securities & Exchange Board of India (Sebi) chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch of receiving remuneration from private entities such as ICICI Bank and ICICI Prudential even while heading the regulatory body.

Congress leader Pawan Khera alleged that Buch received ?16.8 crore from ICICI since joining Sebi in 2017. While Khera refused to divulge the source of this information saying Buch should prove the figures are wrong, he added that this amount was 5.09 times more than her salary. of ?3.3 crore from Sebi during the corresponding time frame.

Hours later, ICICI Bank refuted the charges and it has not paid any salary or granted ESOPs to Buch after her retirement.”ICICI Bank or its group companies have not paid any salary or granted any ESOPs to Madhabi Puri Buch after her retirement, other than her retirement benefits. It may be noted that she had opted for superannuation with effect from October 31, 2013,” the bank said in a statement.

During her employment with the ICICI Group, she received compensation in the form of salary, retirement benefits, bonus and ESOPs, in line with applicable policies, it added.

“Under the bank’s ESOP rules, the ESOPs vest over the next few years from the date of allotment. As per rules existing at the time of her ESOP grant, employees, including retired employees, had the choice to exercise their ESOPs anytime up to a period of 10 years from the date of vesting,” it said.Khera’s comments follow a series of allegations by the USbased short seller Hindenburg Research. On August 10, Hindenburg accused Puri Buch and her husband of making investments in obscure offshore funds, which it claimed were used in the “Adani money siphoning scandal.”(With PTI inputs)