ICRA CEO Naresh Takkar goes on leave pending probe

Chief financial officer Vipul Agarwal appointed interim CEO The managing director and group chief executive officer of ICRA Naresh Takkar has gone on leave amid a regulatory probe into alleged interference by the agency’s officials to ensure good rating to troubled ILand FS. He will remain on leave until the probe into the matter is completed. In a statement on Monday, the rating major said that while Mr. Takkar had gone on leave, chief financial officer Vipul Agarwal had been appointed the interim chief operating officer. Anonymous complaint “The Board of Directors... decided, pending the completion of the examination of the concerns raised in the anonymous representation that was forwarded to the company by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), to place Mr. Naresh Takkar on leave, effective immediately, until further notice,” the rating agency said in a statement on Monday. “The Board of Directors has also decided to appoint Mr. Vipul Agarwal as interim chief operating officer, ICRA, apart from his role as group chief financial officer, ICRA, effective from today,” the statement added. Adjudication The latest statement comes nearly two months after the company, without naming ILand FS or any of its subsidiaries, disclosed that the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has initiated adjudication proceedings in a matter related to ratings assigned to one of its clients and its subsidiaries. It further disclosed that the SEBI had also forwarded an anonymous complaint that it received against the company.