Resigned After Introspection, Says Former HDFC Bank Chairman Atanu Chakraborty

For the first time after his resignation as the chairman of HDFC Bank, India’s largest private sector lender, Atanu Chakraborty has broken his silence on the sudden exit, saying that he put in his papers after “introspection”.

According to a report by Moneycontrol, Chakraborty said that he wanted to ensure that fiduciary responsibility towards the depositors of the bank was complied with.

When asked about the blunt language used in the resignation letter, he said, “How could I have worded it any differently?”

“I’m not one of those who shies away from calling a spade a spade. But at the same time, it is not my personal ethic to put blame on others. The resignation was put in after introspection,” Chakraborty added.

In his resignation letter, he had cited ethical issues as the reason for parting ways with the bank.

“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,” his resignation letter read.

According to the Moneycontrol report, Chakraborty emphasised the need for ethical and risk-free practices at the bank to uphold the belief of investors in the lender’s value system.

“Share price rises today, falls tomorrow. If West Asia is quiet, then perhaps the share price would start climbing up. I look at the contribution towards shareholders’ value and putting in standards by rooting the organisation in a particular value system so that it generates correct conduct with respect to quality, towards shareholder and customer interests, while ensuring there are no risky practices, or least risky practices, minimal frauds, because it’s also the day of a huge amount of technology which leads to breaches and also contributes to the economy,” he said, according to the report.

Since his resignation, the stock of HDFC Bank has fallen from Rs 843 apiece to Rs 735 apiece, a decline of over 12 percent in less than two weeks.