ICICI Bank ex-director Bijapurkar fined over 'Inadvertent Trade'

ICICI Bank. Representative image.

ICICI Bank Independent Director Rama Bijapurkar has been penalised for violation of the bank's code and SEBI regulations. The bank informed exchanges on Saturday about the fine relating to a trade in ICICI Bank shares, a day after Bijapurkar tended her resignation over a potential 'conflict of interest'.

ICICI Bank told exchanges that Bijapurkar's financial advisor bought 4,900 shares of ICICI Bank, after the trading window closed ahead of quarterly results. Shares worth Rs 38.60 lakh were purchased in her account on Jan 5th. This transaction was made while she held the position of an independent director on the board of ICICI Bank. The Audit Committee of the Bank had concluded that it was an inadvertant trade made 'without any intent to violate the Insider Trading code'. The bank confirmed that 'as there was an infraction of the Bank's Code and SEBI Regulations, a penalty of~ Rs 2 Lakh has been imposed' on Bijapurkar.

On Friday, the exchange filing mentioned that Bijapurkar has stepped down citing her teaching activity at an educational institution 'could be in violation of the conflict of interest policy'. She however added that no direct remuneration was being earned from the acadmic activity. She had joined ICICI Bank board in 2019, with a 5-year tenure. Bijapurkar is also an independent director in several other marquee listed companies.