ICICI Bank says did not pay salary or granted employee stocks to Madhabi Buch after retirement

India's ICICI Bank said on Monday it did not pay any salary or granted employee stock options to the current markets regulator chief Madhabi Puri Buch after her retirement from the bank.

The clarification came after the country's opposition party alleged that Buch continued to draw a salary from the bank despite being named as full-time member of the markets regulator, in a potential violation of rules.

Madhabi Puri Buch, an IAS officer, took over as the first woman chairperson of SEBI in March 2022 and has played a very key role since then in the regulation of Indian markets and also in introducing some key regulatory reforms. Having a long background in banking and finance, her stint at SEBI was followed closely.

But charges of impropriety from the opposition have catapulted the affair into a political scandal. This statement by ICICI Bank therefore is meant to soothe the controversy over Buch's post-retirement relationship with her previous employer, but the high-profile case has embarrassed the head of SEBI. Buch, meanwhile, remains at work on her regulatory agenda at the head of SEBI, with a clean slate from her former employer.

With Reuters Inputs