The controversy involves mis-selling Credit Suisse AT-I bonds to NRIs as fixed-maturity instruments, later written off after collapse.
Photograph: Kind courtesy HDFC.Bank.com
HDFC Bank — the largest private sector lender in the country — has asked three of its executives to leave due to misselling concerns, sources told Business Standard.
This comes after its part-time chairman Atanu Chakraborty’s sudden resignation on Wednesday.
The names of three executives could not be immediately confirmed, but reports suggest, the head of a business division, an executive vice-president, and a senior vice-president are the ones who have been asked to leave.
Key Points
- HDFC Bank asked three senior executives to leave following alleged mis-selling issues linked to its Dubai branch operations.
- The exits follow Chairman Atanu Chakraborty’s resignation citing practices not aligned with his personal values and ethics.
- The controversy involves mis-selling Credit Suisse AT-I bonds to NRIs as fixed-maturity instruments, later written off after collapse.
- The bank stated it identified onboarding gaps, conducted a detailed review, and took corrective actions aligned with internal policies.
HDFC Bank Mis-selling Concerns
Responding to the queries sent by Business Standard, HDFC Bank said: ‘The bank identified certain gaps in client-onboarding requirements at its DIFC branch in the UAE and has completed a detailed and objective review of the matter.
‘Appropriate remedial actions have been taken in line with internal policies.
‘Personnel changes have been undertaken along with appropriate action as per the Bank’s conduct regulation.’
Management Response On Governance
HDFC Bank has well-established governance frameworks and continues to remain committed to maintaining high standards of compliance and regulatory adherence, it further stated.
The decision to ask the executives to leave is reportedly linked to the mis-selling of additional tier-I (AT-I) bonds of Credit Suisse to retail customers at the Dubai branch, where they were marketed to non-resident Indians (NRIs) as fixed-maturity bonds.
These bonds were written off after Credit Suisse went bankrupt and was taken over by another banking giant, UBS.
Credit Suisse AT-I Bond Issue
When asked on Thursday, if Chakraborty’s exit was in relation to the AT-I bond issue, Sashidhar Jagdishan, MD & CEO, of the bank said, “There are several such matters which happen periodically, not just now, but has been happening over the last 32 years…”
“Every matter is considered from an accountability perspective. It is nothing new.
“Every issue is taken up and we have an established policy and a standard of operating process, which is then dealt with from an action perspective, rather independently, also providing appellate authority for the aggrieved.
“So it is not necessary that decisions will always be accepted.
“There will be times where people will agree to disagree.
“And I think that is the power and the positivity of a good governance,” he emphasised while adding this may be the reason for Chakraborty to quit.
Chakraborty, a former bureaucrat, resigned with immediate effect citing certain happenings and practices within the bank over last two years, which were not in congruence with his personal ‘Values and Ethics’.
During a media call, M D Ranganath, independent director on the HDFC Bank board said, “…this matter, as well as any other matter, there is a very established process in the bank where independent functions like internal audit or vigilance department independently investigate any of these matters that come to our light.
“And there is a detailed process of how to kind of what disciplinary actions that we need to take depending upon the severity of the omissions.
“So even in this case, the necessary investigation as well as the disciplinary actions have been closed and it has been very conclusively concluded. There is nothing pending on that,” said Ranganath, chairman of the bank’s audit committee.
Series Of Senior Executive Exits
The exit of Chakraborty, and that of these three senior executives follows a series of high profile exits at the bank, including Rahul Shyam Shukla, Group Head – Corporate and Business Banking, who resigned citing personal reasons (effective October 1, 2025), Bhavesh Zaveri, executive director at the bank, who did not seek reappointment as he plans to explore opportunities outside the banking sector.
Zaveri is set to retire on April 18.
Vinay Razdan, who was the chief human resources officer, also resigned from his position (June 2025).
Feature Presentation: Ashish Narsale/Rediff
