HDFC Bank stock tanks around 9%: Five key things investors need to know

Shares of HDFC Bank, India's largest private sector lender, tanked around 9% during the market session on Thursday, March 19, after Atanu Chakraborty, the company’s part-time chairman and independent director, resigned from his role with immediate effect.

After the initial drop, HDFC Bank stock is trading 3.48% lower at ₹813.85 as of 12:57 p.m. on Thursday, compared to ₹843.05 at the previous market close, according to NSE data. The institutional lender’s stock dropped to the day’s low of ₹770 at the opening bell after the resignation update was announced late on Wednesday.

Here are five things investors need to know

Atanu Chakraborty resigns

In a late exchange filing on March 18, HDFC Bank disclosed that Part-time Chairman and Independent Director, Atanu Chakraborty, has resigned from the board of the lender.

In his resignation letter, Chakraborty said that there are “certain happenings and practices within the bank” over the last two years, which do not align with his personal values and ethics and are the sole reason behind his resignation.

“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. This is the basis of my aforementioned decision,” said Atanu Chakraborty in his letter confirming that there are no other reasons behind his move, according to the NSE filing.

Keki Mistry takes charge, addresses concerns

HDFC Bank appointed Keki Mistry to take charge as the Part-time Chairman of the bank with immediate effect from March 18, 2026, according to the exchange filing. After his appointment, on Thursday morning, HDFC Bank called for a conference call with the shareholders to discuss the development.

In the con-call, Keki Mistry said that HDFC Bank assures all the shareholders that there are “no material matters for the resignation,” citing that there were no operational issues highlighted. He also said that based on the discussions in the bank, “there were no specific practices or happenings that were brought to our attention.”

"We wish to assure all shareholders that there are no material matters for the resignation," said Mistry in the conference call. "I want to emphasise I would not have taken this responsibility at age 71 if it did not align with my principles & integrity."

RBI issues statement

The Reserve Bank of India released an official statement approving the part-time chairman transition requested by HDFC Bank on March 19. The banking regulator also said that HDFC Bank remains “well capitalised” and the financial position of the bank “remains satisfactory” with sufficient liquidity.

“The Reserve Bank has taken note of the recent developments in HDFC Bank. A transition arrangement as requested by the bank has been approved by Reserve Bank as regards the position of Part-Time Chairman of the bank,” said RBI in its official statement on Thursday.

RBI also clarified that there are no material concerns on record in relation to HDFC Bank’s conduct or governance.

HDFC Bank’s FII and MF exposure

Data collected from the NSE website showed that domestic mutual funds (MF) hold 26.66% of HDFC Bank’s stock, while foreign institutional investors hold 47.67% stake in India’s largest private sector bank as of the last public shareholding update on 31 December 2025.

The data also showed that 10.53% of the stake is held by other domestic institutional investors, and the remaining is held by retail investors on the stock market. With an exposure of 26.66% for domestic mutual funds and 47.67% for FIIs, the risk of exposure to stock price movement is high, considering the size of shareholding, which is distributed among several holders.

HDFC loses over ₹1 lakh crore M-cap

HDFC Bank stock witnessed around ₹1.12 lakh crore in market capitalisation (M-Cap) wipe-off after the stock markets opened for trading on Thursday, March 19, 2026.

With total outstanding shares of 15,38,45,77,216 as of 31 December 2025, the total market capitalisation of the company dropped to ₹11.85 lakh crore at the intraday low, compared to ₹12.97 lakh crore at the previous market close.

According to the last rebalancing update from the NSE, HDFC Bank made up for 19.69% of the total weightage of the NIFTY BANK index as of February 27. The index heavyweight dragged down the NIFTY BANK index by 3.4% to 53,437.25 points on Thursday, compared to 55,326.05 points at the previous market close.