New Delhi: Indian rating agency ICRA has placed its long-time boss Naresh Takkar on leave until further notice, the company said in a notice to the stock exchanges on Monday evening.
The decision to force Takkar on a leave of absence effective immediately comes on the heels of an anonymous complaint that was forwarded to the company by capital markets regulator SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India).
ICRA’s statement says that until the company finishes examining the concerns raised by the complaint to SEBI, it had decided to appoint group chief financial officer Vipul Agarwal as the interim chief operating officer.
Agarwal will now handle ICRA’s ratings and non-ratings business.
Market experts who The Wire spoke to described the exit of Takkar as both a surprising step but also keeping in line with correct standards of corporate governance.
Also read: In Indian Banking, Awards Are Effectively Being Given out for Bad Behaviour
The ratings agency did not describe the nature of the complaint that had been forwarded to SEBI.
In May 2019, media reports indicated that top ICRA officials were being probed by SEBI over allegations that it had influenced the ‘AAA’ rating on IL&FS. Reports at that time said a complaint had been sent to the market regulator over this matter.
Takkar, an industry veteran, has been at the helm of the ratings agency for nearly a decade and was also recently appointed by the Reserve Bank of India as a member of its committee on the development of housing finance securitisation market, which is chaired by Bain & Co’s Harsh Vardhan.
(With inputs from agencies)