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Foundation

Case Study: How a Whistleblower Exposed a Corporate Governance Failure

A foundation case study of the ICICI Bank and Videocon affair, the Indian case that best shows how a whistleblower can expose a governance failure that auditors, regulators and the board missed. You will see how a Videocon shareholder's 2016 letters alleged a conflict of interest between the bank's CEO Chanda Kochhar and a group the bank lent to, why nothing visible happened for two years, how the board first gave a clean chit in March 2018 and then ordered an independent inquiry under Justice B.N. Srikrishna, and how the case moved to the CBI, ED, SEBI and the courts. The course then breaks down exactly what failed: disclosure, recusal and the board's first response, and how ICICI Bank used clawbacks to restore accountability. It finishes with what investors, compliance professionals and would-be whistleblowers should take from the case, including a simple checklist for judging any whistleblower allegation against an NSE or BSE listed company.

WhistleblowersConflict of InterestBoard OversightIndependent InquiriesClawbacksSEBI and CBI EnforcementBank Governance

MODULES

5

DURATION

~2.75 hrs

TRACK

Forensic Accounting & Compliance

What You'll Master

How the ICICI Bank loans to the Videocon group and the NuPower Renewables link created the alleged conflict of interest

What the whistleblower alleged, who he wrote to, and why the complaint took two years to gain traction

How the board's March 2018 clean chit turned into an independent inquiry and a termination for cause

How the case moved through the CBI, ED, SEBI and the courts, and what each body does

Why disclosure and recusal rules failed, and how bonus clawbacks restored some accountability

How to judge a whistleblower allegation against a listed company as an investor, and how to raise a concern safely as an employee

Access Level

LEARNER

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Everything included

Full Text Playbooks

Actionable Exercises

Mobile Reading Mode

Lifetime Updates

Curriculum Breakdown

Chapter 1: The Bank, the Borrower and the Loan

3 Lessons

Why the ICICI Bank and Videocon Case Is India's Defining Whistleblower Story9 min read

ICICI Bank and Chanda Kochhar: The Bank and the CEO at the Centre of the Case10 min read

The Videocon Loans and the NuPower Renewables Connection11 min read

Chapter 2: The Whistleblower Speaks, 2016 to 2018

3 Lessons

Arvind Gupta's Letters: What the ICICI Bank Whistleblower Alleged10 min read

Two Years of Silence: Why the Videocon Complaint Did Not Move10 min read

March 2018: The News Reports and the ICICI Board's Clean Chit10 min read

Chapter 3: The Investigation, 2018 to 2019

4 Lessons

The Srikrishna Inquiry: How ICICI Bank Set Up an Independent Probe10 min read

Chanda Kochhar Steps Down: Leave, Early Retirement and a New CEO9 min read

January 2019: The Inquiry Findings and Termination for Cause10 min read

CBI, ED and SEBI: How the ICICI Videocon Case Reached Investigators and Courts11 min read

Chapter 4: What Failed in Governance

3 Lessons

Conflict of Interest at ICICI Bank: Why Disclosure and Recusal Failed10 min read

The First Board Response: How a Clean Chit Became a Liability10 min read

Clawbacks and Accountability: Recovering Pay From a Former CEO9 min read

Chapter 5: Lessons for Investors and Professionals

3 Lessons

How ICICI Bank Shares Reacted and What Long-Term Investors Learned10 min read

A Whistleblower Allegation Checklist for Investors10 min read

What the ICICI Videocon Case Teaches Compliance Professionals and Whistleblowers10 min read