Atanu Chakraborty resigns as HDFC Bank chairman citing ethical concerns

In a sudden move, Atanu Chakraborty resigned as chairman of the country's second biggest lender HDFC Bank citing ethical concerns.

This is the first time that the part-time chairman of HDFC Bank left mid-way raising concerns over its functioning.

"Certain happenings and practices within the bank, that I have observed over the last two years, are not in congruence with my personal values and ethics. This is the basis of my aforementioned decision," he said in his resignation letter dated March 17.

In a letter addressed to Chairman of Governance, Nomination, Remuneration Committee H.K. Bhanwala, Chakraborty said that "There are no other material reasons for my resignation other than those stated above."

In a late evening filing, HDFC Bank said Chakraborty has on March 18, 2026, tendered his resignation as the Part-time Chairman and Independent Director of the Bank with immediate effect.

The bank further said, "Whilst the resignation letter of Chakraborty was dated March 17, 2026, the same was received by the Bank on March 18, 2026 at 15:17 hours (IST)."

Further, the filing said, based on an application made by the bank, the Reserve Bank of India on March 18, 2026, has granted its approval for the appointment of Keki Mistry as an interim part-time chairman of the HDFC Bank with effect from March 19, 2026, for a period of 3 months.

It is to be noted that Chakraborty was appointed part-time chairman effective May 5, 2021 almost a year after retirement as Economic Affairs Secretary.

His term was extended for another three years in 2024 till May 4, 2027.

Chakraborty, a 1985 batch IAS officer of Gujarat cadre, retired as Secretary of Department of Economic Affairs in April 2020. Prior to that, he was Secretary of the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM). Both departments come under the Finance Ministry.

Chakraborty became chairman during the reverse merger process of the bank with the parent entity HDFC Ltd, a leading mortgage firm in the country.

The merger of HDFC Ltd. with HDFC Bank became effective on July 1, 2023, creating a financial behemoth with a combined balance sheet of over Rs 18 lakh crore.

"I joined the Board of HDFC Bank in May 2021. My tenure on the Board saw momentous events like the merger of the bank with HDFC Ltd that created a conglomerate under the bank. This strategic initiative made HDFC bank the second largest Bank in the country. Though, the benefits of merger are yet to fully fructify," he said in his resignation letter.

While expressing gratitude to all the independent directors and non-executive directors, who spared their valuable time and shouldered onerous responsibilities on the board and its committees, he said, there is a great amount of energy and verve in the middle and junior levels of the organisation, that should form the core of a reimaged organisation.