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Journalism of Courage
The board of directors of rating firm ICRA Ltd has decided to terminate the employment of Naresh Takkar as Managing Director and Group CEO of ICRA with immediate effect.
The ICRA Board will commence a search for a replacement, the company said in an exchange filing. The decision was taken after due consideration and taking into account the best interests of the Company and its various stakeholders, ICRA said.
The rating firm said Vipul Agarwal, who was appointed Interim COO on July 1, 2019, remains responsible for the day-to-day operation of the company until a CEO is appointed. “ICRA remains committed to ensuring the independence and integrity of its ratings process and sound corporate governance,” it said.
On July 2, ICRA had sent Naresh Takkar on leave with immediate effect till completion of enquiry on an anonymous complaint sent to the company by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi). While ICRA did not specify the reasons for the move, the decision had come at a time when credit rating agencies were under a cloud following the collapse of IL&FS, which was enjoying top rating right till the time of its first default in late August last year.
ICRA had filed a consent application before the Sebi, which is also investigating three rating agencies including ICRA, for their role in the IL&FS crisis. The Sebi probe began after the rating agencies failed to warn investors in time about the deteriorating credit profile of IL&FS. At least two rating agencies had given IL&FS the highest rating of AAA, even when its subsidiary, IL&FS Transport Networks, defaulted in June 2018. Subsequently, the rating agencies downgraded its debt papers /credit facilities citing weak financials.
