Atanu Chakraborty resigns as HDFC Bank part-time chairman citing ‘ethical concerns’

Keki Mistry, who serves on the HDFC Bank board, is taking charge as interim part-time chairman immediately, for a period of three months.

Atanu Chakraborty has resigned as part-time chairman of HDFC Bank Ltd. with immediate effect, citing a breakdown in alignment between the lender's internal practices and his personal ethics.

HDFC Bank Chairman Atanu Chakraborty Resigns, Cites ‘Certain Practices Incongruent With My Values…’

“Certain happenings and practices within the bank, that I have observed over last two years, are not in congruence with my personal values and ethics,” the former bureaucrat wrote in his resignation letter that was shared by HDFC Bank with the stock exchanges late Wednesday (18 March 2026). “This is the basis of my aforementioned decision.” The letter is dated 17 March.

The Reserve Bank of India has approved the appointment of Keki Mistry—the last CEO of Housing Development Finance Corp. Ltd. before the HDFC Bank merger—as interim part-time chairman of the lender. He is currently a non-executive, non-independent director on the board of India's largest private bank.

While the resignation letter did not detail specific incidents, the timing and phrasing suggest a rift at the board level of a bank that manages approximately 15% of India’s total deposits. Chakraborty, who joined the board in May 2021 and oversaw the historic $40-billion HDFC Bank merger in 2023, said benefits of the integration “are yet to fully fructify”.

Crucial Juncture

The resignation comes at a delicate time for HDFC Bank. Under the leadership of CEO Sashidhar Jagdishan, the private bank has been working to navigate the complexities of its massive merger while facing intensified regulatory scrutiny.

Analysts suggest that the explicit mention of “happenings and practices” will likely force the RBI to take a closer look at the bank’s internal governance frameworks.

“RBI should be on top of the issue as HDFC Bank is a systematically important bank,” Amit Tandon, chief executive of Institutional Investor Advisory Services, told Reuters. “But since the RBI has appointed a group insider Keki Mistry in his place it could mean less alarm for shareholders.”

Kotak Institutional Securities weighed in as well.

“While governance standards have historically been strong for the bank, the current episode raises concerns about aspects that we may have limited insights, but could be material from a stock multiple perspective.”