(Reuters) – Embassy Office Parks, India’s largest real estate investment trust (REIT), on Thursday named Ritwik Bhattacharjee as interim CEO with immediate effect, days after the country’s markets regulator directed to suspend its former chief.
On Tuesday, the trust announced that its then CEO Aravind Maiya would step down, following the Securities and Exchange Board of India’s (SEBI) decision that he was unfit for the role.
The regulator had also asked Embassy to appoint an interim CEO.
SEBI’s action followed a National Financial Reporting Authority (NFRA) order in August, which investigated the statutory auditors of Coffee Day Enterprises, where Maiya was an engagement partner, for alleged financial irregularities at the company in 2018-19.
The NFRA, a quasi-regulator overseeing the conduct of auditors, said it found serious lapses on the part of the auditor, Maiya and others.
Bhattacharjee has been associated with the REIT since its listing, and last held the position of Chief Investment Officer at Embassy. Before joining the REIT, he spent over 12 years as an investment banker at firms such as Nomura, Citi, UBS and JPMorgan.
Embassy REIT is India’s first publicly listed REIT and owns and operates a 51.1-million-square-foot portfolio.
(Reporting by Nishit Navin in Bengaluru; Editing by Vijay Kishore)
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