The regulator said the outreach programme was done with the objective of maximising participation in the voting process.
“The outreach was done in face of a ‘concerted campaign’ on social media by some sophisticated shareholders of ICICI securities against the scheme,” Sebi said in a letter to the lender.
According to Sebi, while the bank has submitted that the outreach programme was undertaken merely to explain the scheme and for maximising shareholders’ participation, however, based on the examination of the investor complaints, it was observed that some officials have gone beyond the outreach programme by making repeated calls, asking for screenshots of voting.
The bank argued that the so-called outreach was to present a factual position of the transaction.The regulator said since ICICI Bank was an interested party in the transaction, there was a conflict of interest and thus, the outreach was inappropriate.The bank in its defence said the scheme of arrangement was recommended by independent valuers.ICICI Bank has already been under fire for allegedly coaxing minority shareholders of ICICI Securities to support the private lender’s proposal to delist the broking and investment banking arm.
According to the proposed delisting scheme, ICICI Securities shareholders are slated to receive 67 shares of ICICI Bank for every 100 shares held.
Sebi has granted ICICI Bank exemption from the delisting regulation involving the requirement of the listed holding company and listed subsidiary being in the same line of business.
In the recent fourth quarter, ICICI Securities reported more than doubling of its net profit of Rs 536 crore and the consolidated revenue from operations stood at Rs 1,543 crore.