HDFC Bank gets Sebi warning over non-compliance with listing regulations, second in a week

India's biggest private sector bank, HDFC Bank, has been issued a warning from the market regulator, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), over non-compliance with listing regulations. The warning is over the delay in disclosing the resignation of Arvind Kapil, the Group Head of Mortgage Business at the HDFC Bank.

“Securities and Exchange Board of India has issued an administrative warning letter to the Bank thereby alleging non-compliances with certain provisions of the Sebi Listing Regulations, in relation to the disclosures made by the Bank with respect to the resignation of Mr. Arvind Kapil, being a senior management employee of the Bank (sic),” HDFC Bank said in a filing with exchanges today.

What is the Sebi warning about?

According to the market regulator, the bank informed the exchanges about Arvind Kapil's resignation after a three-day delay. HDFC Bank notified the stock exchanges about the resignation of Arvind Kapil on April 30, 2024.

Following Kapil's resignation, the bank appointed Sumant Rampal as the Group Head of Mortgage Business from March 28, 2024.

As per Sebi's Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements (LODR), the listed entities must inform the exchanges about a change within the company in 12 hours. The lender has violated Regulation 30(6) of LODR norms.

“The listed entity shall first disclose to the stock exchange(s) all events or information which are material in terms of the provisions of the LODR Regulations as soon as reasonably possible…Twelve hours from the occurrence of the event or information, in case the event or information is emanating from within the listed entity,” according to LODR norms by Sebi.

This is the second warning for HDFC Bank by the market regulator this week.

Earlier this week, HDFC Bank notified in an exchange filing that Sebi had issued a warning over non-compliance with certain norms of merchant banking, capital disclosures and insider trading.