MUMBAI: The board of ICICI Bank threw its weight behind chief executive Chanda Kochhar , squelching speculation about nepotism and corruption over loans to the Dhoot family-promoted Videocon group of companies. The lender’s stock price has dropped 6% in the past 10 days or so.“The board has full confidence and reposes full faith in the bank’s MD & CEO Chanda Kochhar,” it said in a release. “On looking at all the above facts, the board has come to the conclusion that there is no question of any quid pro quo/nepotism/conflict of interest as is being alleged in various rumours.”The loans were among those given by a consortium of about 20 lenders, the bank said. ICICI Bank’s share was about 10% and the rest was provided by others under the same terms and conditions.The bank had a robust credit appraisal system, which ensures that no individual can unilaterally decide on funding a company, the board said.“There have been some malicious and unfounded rumours in the past few days casting insinuations on ICICI Bank Ltd and its MD & CEO,” it said. “Similar rumours had first surfaced in mid-2016 and had been appropriately responded to. Nevertheless, these have resurfaced in the recent past to malign the bank.”ICICI Bank ended at Rs 278.90 on Wednesday, down about 6% from Rs 294 on March 19.Kochhar Wasn’t Heading Credit PanelThe rumours cited stemmed from allegations made in a letter by a shareholder to the prime minister and a blog post two years ago, repeated in recent media reports. They speculated about a quid pro quo with regard to loans given to the Videocon Group and allegations that Dhoot incorporated a joint 50:50 venture with Deepak Kochhar, the CEO’s husband, in December 2008, called NuPower Renewables.In a March 15, 2016, letter addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, ICICI Bank shareholder Arvind Gupta alleged that the bank extended loans to the debtladen Videocon Group despite its track record, mainly due to business relations between the Dhoots and Deepak Kochhar.It was alleged that members of the Kochhar family, Mahesh Advani and Neelam Advani, relatives of Chanda Kochhar, became the owners of Nupower Renewables through dubious transactions and the original founders of the company were the Dhoot family. The company ownership was transferred as a quid pro quo for loans, Gupta said.The bank denied any such nexus.“The board desires to clarify that none of the investors of NuPower Renewables are borrowers of ICICI Bank,” it said.The lender was one among a consortium of banks that gave loans to Videocon.“ICICI Bank was not the lead bank for this consortium and the bank only sanctioned its share of facilities aggregating approximately Rs 3,250 crore, which was less than 10% of the total consortium facility in April 2012,’’ the bank said. “The board concluded that there is no question or scope of any favouritism, nepotism or quid pro quo.’’At the time the loan was sanctioned, KV Kamath was chairman of the board and Chanda Kochhar was not heading the credit committee.“This committee was chaired by the then chairman of ICICI Bank and it included independent and working directors of the bank. It is important to note that Chanda Kochhar was not the chairperson of this committee,” the bank said.The board said it had full faith in the lender’s top management.“The board also commends the entire management team under the leadership of the MD & CEO for their hard work and dedication. We would urge you not to be misled by these rumours which are being spread to malign the bank and its top management.”