Atanu Chakraborty calls HDFC Bank’s legal review superfluous

New Delhi, June 29 (IANS) Former HDFC Bank Chairman Atanu Chakraborty has described the legal review of his resignation as being caveated and superfluous, saying it focused largely on compliance issues instead of the broader concerns he had raised about certain business practices at the bank, according to a report.

NDTV Profit reported that the external legal firms appointed by HDFC Bank — Wadia Gandhy and Wilson Soni — reviewed Chakraborty’s resignation statement by relying largely on select excerpts from interviews with internal officials and board meeting minutes.

Chakraborty said his resignation stemmed from a conflict between certain business practices at the bank and his personal values, and was broadly intended as a call for introspection by the board, according to the report.

However, he claimed the legal review focused primarily on the compliance aspects.

Meanwhile, he said that despite repeatedly seeking the terms of reference or legal framework under which the law firms were appointed to conduct the review, the board did not share the details with him.

The report further highlighted that referring to the AT-1 bond mis-selling case, Chakraborty said the incident occurred during his tenure and that the bank had acted swiftly by taking multiple corrective measures.

However, he declined to elaborate on the specific business practices that led to his resignation, saying boardroom matters should remain confidential, it added.

The favourable legal review is likely to pave the way for HDFC Bank to expedite the appointment of a permanent chairman and the reappointment of Managing Director and CEO Sashidhar Jagdishan.

Earlier in March, Chakraborty resigned, expressing in his letter that some of the bank’s recent developments over the previous two years did not fit with his own ethics and values. However, the bank clarified that he did not identify any particular incidents or behaviours that went against his principles.

Additionally, Chakraborty has openly insisted that his departure from the bank was motivated by a difference in philosophy and strategy rather than any misconduct or malpractice. Following his resignation, Keki Mistry was appointed by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) as an interim part-time chairman for a three-month term beginning on March 19.

He has also publicly maintained that his exit was not linked to any wrongdoing or malpractice within the bank but was driven by a divergence in ideologies and approach. He had joined the bank’s board in 2021.

Following his resignation, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) approved the appointment of Keki Mistry as interim part-time chairman for a period of three months starting March 19.

Mistry has indicated that there are no major concerns facing the bank after Chakraborty’s departure.

Earlier, the RBI approved another 90-day extension for interim chairman Keki Mistry.

Following this, shares of HDFC Bank traded 0.33 per cent lower at Rs 793.35, hitting an intraday low on the BSE at 12:45 pm.

–IANS

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