Aditya Birla Capital Ltd (ABCL) on Monday said Ajay Srinivasan has decided to step down as MD and CEO of the company as he had “expressed his desire to take on a new role within the group”.
“The company received a complaint in which certain allegations were made about Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC and its employees. As per the Aditya Birla group policy, an independent Committee was formed to investigate the allegations,” the company said in an exchange filing. According to a media report, serious allegations of corruption and mismanagement, including front running and insider trading, have been levelled by a whistle-blower against ABCL and Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC.
“The committee did not find any merit in the allegations. There was no allegation whatsoever, made against Ajay Srinivasan, by the said employee,” a company spokesperson said.
“In so far as Srinivasan stepping down is concerned, it is clarified that Srinivasan had expressed his desire to take on a new role within the group, after having served as Chief Executive for over 14 years,” it said. “A role is being crafted at the group level in consultation with him,” he said.
“A story has appeared, this morning, based on insinuations of vested interests. These insinuations/ allegations are bereft of facts,” it said. The board of Aditya Birla Capital recently appointed Vishakha Mulye as the next CEO of Aditya Birla Capital.
ABCL is the holding company for the financial services businesses of the Aditya Birla group. The scale is evidenced with overall AUM across asset management, life insurance and health insurance businesses, growing 16 per cent year on year to over Rs 372,423 crore.
Aditya Birla Capital fell by five per cent to Rs 95.05 and Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC Ltd plummeted by 7.44 per cent to Rs 452.30 on the BSE on Monday.
“There have been no employee exits at Aditya Birla Capital and Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC, as a fallout of these malicious allegations. Girish Patil left the company to pursue better prospects outside the group. Vineet Maloo moved internally within Aditya Birla Group, in line with the group’s policy of career progression,” it said.
“The reference in the article associating his new role with the AMC business is not correct and mischievous. Further, it is also not correct as mentioned in the article that Girish Patil is related to Mahesh Patil. Girish Patil and Mahesh Patil are not related to each other in any manner,” the company said.
“Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC has a 27-year track record and strong credibility for having adhered to the highest standards and processes. Across the Aditya Birla Group we have a robust mechanism of dealing with complaints and grievances, if any,” it said.
Axis Asset Management Company, the mutual fund promoted by Axis Bank, recently suspended two of its fund managers for alleged irregularities, including front running.
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