HDFC Bank’s hunt to appoint new chairman gathers momentum

The hunt to appoint a new chairman for HDFC Bank appears to be gathering pace, with reports emerging that the private sector lender has shortlisted five candidates already. 

The term of the current interim part-time chairman Keki Mistry is set to end on June 19, 2026. His term had been extended for a three-month period on March 19, 2026. 

The new chairman is likely to be appointed in the first half of July and will be the first top leadership position to be filled up after the sudden resignation of former chairman Atanu Chakraborty on March 18, citing ethical concerns. 

The shortlisted candidates include a recently retired deputy governor at the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), a retired bureaucrat, a former head of a public sector bank, a former India CEO of a multinational company, and a technology veteran, according to CNBC-TV18. 

Mistry did not respond to queries seeking comment while an HDFC Bank spokesperson said, “We do not comment on media speculation.”

On Friday, the HDFC Bank stock gained 3.67%, assisted by a buoyant investor sentiment with the BSE Sensex logging gains of 1,695 points or 2.3% to 75,727 levels on reports that the West Asia crisis could end sooner than expected. 

But the HDFC Bank stock has fallen over 22% year-to-date to 771 levels, impacted by the controversial exit of Chakraborty and a fresh allegation of 'camouflaging' interest payments to a state road transport agency. The bank has denied any wrongdoing in this matter.

Mistry has been amongst the most vocal of the board members at HDFC Bank, often allaying concerns of stakeholders and investors that there was no “specific happening or practice” that was brought to the bank’s attention. “I wish to assure all stakeholders that there are no material issues on hand, which need addressing. There were no operational matters or issues which were highlighted," Mistry said in an urgently held meeting with analysts on March 19 morning. 

Mistry, who was the CEO of HDFC earlier, joined the bank as part-time chairman and non-executive director following the merger of HDFC with HDFC Bank in June 2023. 

Mistry had earlier also told the media that there were never any discussions at the board level "on any matter which was contentious in terms of governance. If there were minor issues here and there, they were tackled appropriately," he had said. 

But the markets are more concerned about whether the current HDFC Bank CEO Sashidhar Jagdishan will get an extension of term which ends on October 26, 2026. The board of directors and the regulators, the Securities and Exchange Board of India and the RBI had come out to support the bank after Chakraborty’s resignation.