RBI Seeks HDFC Bank Board Meeting Records: Moneycontrol

The Reserve Bank of India has asked HDFC Bank to furnish minutes and audio-video recordings of board meetings held on March 17 and 18, as well as records of the Nomination and Remuneration Committee meeting on March 17, days after the resignation of the bank's part-time chairman Atanu Chakraborty triggered a boardroom controversy, News Portla Moneycontrol.

The regulator’s move follows Chakraborty's reported meeting with RBI officials earlier this week, where he is understood to have shared his account of events leading to his exit. The RBI's intent, as per Moneycontrol, is to cross-verify information provided by Chakraborty against the official board records.

According to Moneycontrol report, a key concern flagged to the regulator is that certain issues raised by Chakraborty may not have been adequately captured in the board minutes or may not accurately reflect his position, prompting the RBI to seek the original recordings to verify this.

Chakraborty's resignation last Wednesday came after what is understood to have been a prolonged friction with the bank's managing director and CEO Sashidhar Jagdishan. In his resignation letter to the board, Chakraborty cited "certain happenings and practices within the bank...not in congruence with my personal values and ethics" as the basis for his decision.

It remains unclear whether the RBI has set a deadline for submission or has sought the documents on an immediate basis. Normally, companies are given 14 days to compile board meeting minutes. Queries to both HDFC Bank and the RBI had not been answered at the time of publication, the report said.

Following Chakraborty's departure, Keki Mistry was appointed interim part-time chairman for three months. In a stock exchange filing on March 24, the bank announced the engagement of two external law firms, one domestic and one international, to review Chakraborty's resignation letter.