ICICI arm accused of mistreating whistleblower

By Joe Leahy in Mumbai

Published: December 14 2009 21:33 | Last updated: December 14 2009 21:33

The UK subsidiary of India’s ICICI Bank has been accused by the Employment Tribunals in London of mistreating a whistleblower.

The tribunal ruling is likely to reignite fierce debate over better protection for the rights of whistleblowers.


India’s largest private sector bank tried immediately to repatriate the dealer, S. Kapoor, to India against his wishes after it was confirmed he had informed the UK Financial Services Authority about alleged irregularities.

“It is our conclusion ... the respondent [ICICI] subjected him to a detriment, and that it did so because of the protected disclosures that he made internally and, more importantly, to the FSA,” the judge wrote in a ruling last month.

ICICI said the matter was subjudice but it rejected the allegation that Mr Kapoor’s repatriation was linked to his disclosures, saying it was instead due to the closure of his division, the proprietary trading group.

“We insist that there is no connection between the whistleblowing incident and the decision to close the PTG,” ICICI said on Monday.

Mr Kapoor is claiming damages from ICICI for “being subjected to a detriment” after making a “protected disclosure”.

He started work on ICICI’s proprietary trading group desk in London in November last year, which trades foreign exchange and interest rate futures.

In January, he and a colleague noticed that their superior on the three-man team was allegedly altering records to cover up his trading losses, which reached more than $1m in 2008, the tribunal ruling said. The pair reported the issue to management, prompting an internal investigation.

But Mr Kapoor was frustrated with the pace of the investigation and concerned his superior had not been suspended, so that the desk was continuing to file inaccurate accounts. He secretly reported the matter to the FSA, the ruling said.

On April 8, the day Mr Kapoor’s senior managers confirmed it was he who had informed the FSA, they told him he would be repatriated to India in less than two weeks.

It fired the desk head accused of wrongdoing and made his colleague redundant. This person was the only ICICI UK employee to be made redundant during the financial crisis starting in September last year, the ruling said.

ICICI said the closure of the trading group was because of “market conditions” and added Mr Kapoor was offered “alternative employment” in India.