ICICI Bank clarified on Monday that it did not pay any salary or Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs) to Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch after her retirement. This statement came in response to Congress allegations claiming that Buch received a total of ₹16.8 crore from ICICI Bank since her appointment to SEBI in 2017.

ICICI Bank stated, "ICICI Bank or its group companies have not paid any salary or granted any ESOPs to Ms. Madhabi Puri Buch post-retirement, aside from her retiral benefits." The bank explained that the payments Buch received after her retirement were earned during her tenure with ICICI Group and included ESOPs and retiral benefits.

Buch, who began her career with ICICI Bank in 1989, served as CEO of ICICI Securities from February 2009 to May 2011 and joined SEBI as a whole-time member in April 2017. She became SEBI Chairperson in March 2022.

Earlier, Congress accused Buch of a conflict of interest, alleging she received substantial payments from ICICI Bank while serving full-time at SEBI. They claimed that the total amount received from ICICI Bank since her SEBI appointment was ₹16.8 crore, significantly higher than her ₹3.3 crore salary from SEBI over the same period.

These allegations come shortly after US-based short-seller Hindenburg Research suggested that Madhabi Puri Buch and her husband Dhaval Buch had investments in offshore entities linked to the Adani money siphoning scandal. The Buchs have denied these claims, stating that their investments predate Madhabi’s tenure at SEBI.