ICICI denies share sales as rumours
17 Sep 2008
ICICI Bank has denied as "malicious rumours" that its top management had sold its shareholding and warned that it was moving the regulator for "necessary action against those responsible for the rumours."
The bank'ss stement says "It has been brought to the notice of ICICI Bank that a malicious rumour is being spread to the effect that some of the top management have been selling ICICI Bank shares for the last few days.
"These rumours are baseless and irresponsible, and no shares have been sold by members of the top management of the Bank during the current year. "ICICI Bank is taking up this matter with regulatory authorities for necessary action against those responsible for the rumours."
The bank'as stock opened at Rs600 and slid to Rs530 before gaining just befor closing to Rs560.30, close to its weighted average of 557.12
The rumours began surfacing in the backdrop of Lehman Brothers filing for bankruptcy in the US, which will cause ICICI Bank, the country's largest private bank, to lose approximately $80 million (Rs375 crore), invested in Lehman's bonds through the bank's UK subsidiary.