HDFC Bank

History

HDFC Bank was incorporated in 1994 as a subsidiary of HDFC Ltd, which received an 'in principle' approval from the RBI to set up a bank in the Private Sector as part of its liberalisation of the Indian banking industry. The bank commenced operations in January 1995, with its registered office in Mumbai. Its first corporate office and a full-service branch at Sandoz House, Worli, was inaugurated by the then Union Finance Minister, Manmohan Singh.

In February 2000, Times Bank merged with HDFC Bank, which was India's first-ever voluntary merger of banks. Times Bank was established by India's largest media conglomerate, The Times Group.

In July 2001, HDFC Bank's ADS listed on the New York Stock Exchange after an IPO.

In 2008, HDFC Bank acquired the Centurion Bank of Punjab (CBoP) for in a share-swap deal, reportedly the largest acquisition in the Indian financial sector at the time.

In 2021, the bank acquired a 9.99% stake in Ferbine, an entity promoted by Tata Group, to operate a pan-India umbrella entity for retail payment systems, similar to the National Payments Corporation of India.

HDFC Ltd–HDFC Bank merger

On 4 April 2022, HDFC Ltd announced that it would merge with HDFC Bank, marking India's largest-ever M&A deal. As part of the merger, HDFC Ltd would transfer its home loan portfolio to HDFC Bank, while the bank offered depositors of HDFC Ltd the choice of either withdrawing their money or renewing their deposits with the bank at the interest rate that the bank was then offering.

On 1 July 2023, the merger of HDFC Ltd with HDFC Bank was completed. Consequently, HDFC Bank had a market capitalisation of $154 billion, becoming the seventh most valuable bank in the world. HDFC Bank also became one of the world's top 100 banking companies by total assets.

The combined entity had a customer base of 12 crore (120 million), surpassing the population of Germany in size. The merger resulted in a substantial increase in bank headcount, with the workforce totaling 1.77 lakh (177k) employees. The merged entity became the second-largest bank in India, trailing only the State Bank of India in terms of assets. The number of branches increased to 8,300.

Shares of HDFC Ltd were delisted and shareholders were allotted 42 shares of HDFC Bank for every 25 shares of HDFC Ltd held, leading to an increase in the equity capital of HDFC Bank.

Operations

As of March 2024, HDFC Bank's distribution network included 8,735 branches and 20,938 ATMs (cash recyclers; cash deposit and withdrawal) spread throughout 3,836 cities and villages. The distribution network of HDFC Ltd., which consists of 737 locations and includes 214 offices of HDFC Sales Private Limited, has been integrated into the network of the Bank.

HDFC Bank is the sole private bank operating in the union territory of Lakshadweep after opening a branch in Kavaratti island.

Subsidiaries and associates

Notable subsidiaries and associate companies of HDFC Bank include:

Listings and shareholding

The equity shares of HDFC Bank are listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange of India. Its American depositary receipts are listed on the NYSE.

Its global depository receipts (GDRs) were listed on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange but were terminated by the board of directors, following its low trading volume.

Controversies

On 2 December 2020, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) ordered HDFC Bank to temporarily halt the issuance of new credit cards and all planned activities under the bank's Digital 2.0 program, citing incidents of outages in the bank's internet banking, mobile banking and payment utility services.

On 29 January 2020, RBI imposed a monetary penalty on HDFC Bank for failure to undertake ongoing due diligence in case of 39 current accounts opened for bidding in the initial public offer.

A HDFC Bank manager was arrested on charges of fraud, involving a sum of ₹59,41,000 in Odisha.

Altico Capital and Dubai's Mashreq Bank have approached RBI, accusing HDFC Bank of violating regulatory provisions by debiting part of the funds the company had raised through external commercial borrowing (ECB) and parked at the bank. They claimed that HDFC bank's decision to transfer money from the account may be a violation of the RBI's end-use rule.

On 27 May 2021, RBI imposed a penalty of on HDFC Bank for deficiencies in regulatory compliances with regard to its auto loan portfolio. The said penalty was imposed with regard to the contraventions of certain provisions of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949.

In March 2023, HDB Financial Services suffered a breach exposing the data of more than 7 crore (70 million) customers, including email addresses, names, dates of birth, phone numbers, genders, post codes and loan information belonging to the customers.

In June 2025, HDFC Bank's Managing Director and CEO, Sashidhar Jagdishan, was named in a First Information Report (FIR) filed by the Lilavati Kirtilal Mehta Medical Trust, which manages Lilavati Hospital in Mumbai. The complaint alleged his involvement in a financial transaction worth ₹2.05 crore, reportedly aimed at pressuring a trustee of the hospital. This action was linked to a long-standing loan recovery dispute involving Splendour Gems Limited, originating from a recovery certificate issued in 2004.

References

References

1. "RBI approves appointment of Atanu Chakraborty as part-time chairman of HDFC Bank". thehindu.com.
2. "Balance Sheet of HDFC Bank". moneycontrol.
3. "HDFC Bank headcount declines". Business Standard.
4. "Who We Are – Overview of Our Mission & Values {{!}} HDFC Bank".
5. "About Us".
6. "How HDB Financial Services Can Add To HDFC Bank's Long Rally". Moneycontrol.
7. "Financial Results Q4FY25". HDFC Bank.
8. (19 April 2025). "Q4FY25 Earnings Presentation". HDFC Bank.
9. "Top companies in India by total assets". Moneycontrol.
10. (2025-05-02). "Top 10 largest banks in the world by market cap (2025): Indian bank in the global 10".
11. (2 January 2023). "RBI releases 2022 list of Domestic Systemically Important Banks (D-SIBs)". RBI.
12. (2 January 2023). "RBI releases Domestic Systemically Important Banks (D-SIBs) of 2022". Livemint.
13. "Largest bank by Market capitalization".
14. (31 March 2023). "Financial Results (Indian GAAP) for the Quarter and Year Ended March 31, 2023". HDFC Bank.
15. "HDFC Bank: Number of Employees 2006–2021 | HDB".
16. "About HDFC Bank". HDFC Bank.
17. (2 May 2023). "HDFC Bank Ltd". CARE Ratings.
18. "HDFC Bank: Reports, Company History, Directors Report, Chairman's Speech, Auditors Report of HDFC Bank".
19. "Hdfc, Timesbank Merger By Feb 25". Business Standard.
20. Bandyopadhyay, Tamal. (19 November 2012). "A Bank for the Buck". Livemint.
21. "HDFC Bank prices ADS at $13.83: Reuters". Rediff.com.
22. (4 December 2008). "HDFC Bank buys Centurion in India's biggest financial sector buyout". The New York Times.
23. (26 February 2021). "Kotak Mahindra Bank, HDFC Bank To Acquire 9.99% Each In Ferbine".
24. (5 April 2022). "HDFC HDFC Bank Merger: HDFC to merge with HDFC Bank in India's biggest-ever M&A |".
25. (30 June 2023). "Bank Giant Bigger Than Morgan Stanley Arises From India Merger". Bloomberg.com.
26. Kulkarni, Sneha. (3 July 2023). "What is the HDFC Bank-HDFC merger date". The Economic Times.
27. (1 July 2023). "HDFC Bank completes merger with HDFC after final board approval". The Economic Times.
28. (1 July 2023). "HDFC Bank completes merger formalities, rebrands HDFC Ltd. offices, branches". The Hindu.
29. (20 July 2023). "HDFC Ltd-HDFC Bank merger: Behind Sashi Jagdishan's big plans for HDFC Bank". Business Today.
30. (18 July 2023). "HDFC Bank becomes world's 7th largest lender post merger". The Economic Times.
31. (30 June 2023). "Bank giant bigger than Morgan Stanley arises from HDFC Bank, HDFC Ltd merger". The Times of India.
32. (3 July 2023). "Spotlight on HDFC Ltd and HDFC Bank Merger !". CNBCTV18.
33. (1 July 2023). "HDFC Ltd and HDFC Bank complete their merger today: Take a look at what's happened so far". Zee Business.
34. (27 June 2023). "HDFC-HDFC Bank merger likely to be effective July 1, HDFC to be delisted on July 13: Deepak Parekh". Business Today.
35. (3 July 2023). "India's HDFC Bank completes $40 billion takeover of the country's largest mortgage lender. Here's what it means". CNBC.
36. (10 April 2024). "Sole Private Bank Operator in UT Lakshdweep".
37. "HDFC Life Insurance Company Limited".
38. "HDFC ERGO General Insurance Company Limited".
39. "HDFC Asset Management Company Limited".
40. "HDFC Securities Limited".
41. "HDB Financial Services Limited".
42. "HDFC divests 10% stake in HDFC Capital Advisors to ADIA for Rs 184 cr". Business Standard.
43. "HDFC Bank completes Rs 9,553 cr stake sale in education unit HDFC Credila". Business Standard.
44. "HDFC bank: Information about American Depository Receipt".
45. "HDFC Bank's Global Expansion".
46. "HDFC Bank terminates, de-lists GDRs from Luxembourg Stock Exchange". The hindu Business line.
47. (3 December 2020). "RBI asks HDFC Bank to halt issue of new credit cards, planned activities under Digital 2.0".
48. (8 December 2020). "Explained: Why RBI has asked HDFC Bank to stop digital launches, new credit card sourcing".
49. "RBI imposes penalty on HDFC bank".
50. "A HDFC bank manager arrested for Rs 59.41 lakh fraud in Odisha".
51. "Altico and Mashreq approach RBI against HDFC Bank".
52. "Reserve Bank of India imposes Rs 10 crore penalty on HDFC Bank". The indian express.
53. (7 March 2023). "HDB Financial Services flags data breach at service provider". The Economic Times.
54. Mishra, Lalatendu. (2025-06-07). "HDFC Bank denies allegations against MD & CEO Jagdishan, says recalcitrant defaulters at work to thwart recovery". The Hindu.
55. (2025-06-09). "HDFC Bank rubbishes Lilavati Trust's allegations against MD & CEO Sashidhar Jagdishan - know charges here".
56. (2025-06-09). "Who is Sasidhar Jagdishan, MD and CEO of HDFC Bank named in Lilavti Trust FIR?". The Economic Times.