HDFC Financial institution has terminated three staff over lapses in shopper onboarding at its DIFC department, following allegations of mis-selling Credit score Suisse AT-1 bonds. The motion comes days after chairman Atanu Chakraborty resigned citing moral considerations, elevating governance questions.
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SHAILESH ANDRADE
Days after the resignation of HDFC Financial institution chairman Atanu Chakraborty citing moral considerations, the financial institution has terminated the providers of three staff for gaps in shopper onboarding at its Dubai Worldwide Monetary Centre (DIFC) department.
In accordance with sources, HDFC Financial institution has fired three senior executives over the alleged mis-selling of Credit score Suisse’s extra tier-1 (AT-1) bonds.
Following the allegations of mis-selling, the native regulator — Dubai Monetary Providers Authority — barred HDFC Financial institution from onboarding new clients at its DIFC department final September.
Financial institution cites gaps in onboarding, takes corrective motion
When approached for a remark, the financial institution stated in an announcement that it has recognized sure gaps in client-onboarding necessities at its DIFC department within the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and accomplished an in depth and goal assessment of the matter.
“Acceptable remedial actions have been taken according to inside insurance policies. Personnel modifications have been undertaken together with acceptable motion as per the financial institution’s conduct regulation,” it stated.
The HDFC Financial institution has well-established governance frameworks and continues to stay dedicated to sustaining excessive requirements of compliance and regulatory adherence, it added.
Chairman’s abrupt exit raises governance considerations
Chakraborty abruptly resigned because the chairman of the nation’s second-biggest lender, citing moral considerations, efficient March 18.
That is the primary time {that a} part-time chairman of HDFC Financial institution left mid-way, elevating considerations over the financial institution’s functioning.
“Sure happenings and practices throughout the financial institution, that I’ve noticed over final two years, will not be in congruence with my private values and ethics. That is the idea of my aforementioned resolution,” Chakraborty stated in his resignation letter dated March 17.
Within the letter addressed to the chairman of the Goverance, Nomination, Remuneration Committee, H Okay Bhanwala, Chakraborty stated “there aren’t any different materials causes for my resignation aside from these acknowledged above”.
Chakraborty’s tenure and background
Chakraborty was appointed because the part-time chairman of the financial institution efficient Might 5, 2021, virtually a yr after he retired because the financial affairs secretary.
His time period was prolonged for one more three years in 2024, until Might 4, 2027.
Chakraborty, a 1985-batch IAS officer of the Gujarat cadre, retired because the secretary of the Division of Financial Affairs in April 2020. Previous to that, he was the secretary of the Division of Funding and Public Asset Administration (DIPAM). Each departments are beneath the finance ministry.
Chakraborty turned the chairman through the reverse merger technique of the financial institution with the father or mother entity — HDFC Restricted — a number one mortgage agency within the nation.
The merger of HDFC Restricted with HDFC Financial institution turned efficient on July 1, 2023, making a monetary behemoth with a mixed steadiness sheet of greater than Rs 18 lakh crore.
Revealed on March 21, 2026
