ICICIBANK

Corrects paragraph 1 to say rates raised by as much as 300 bps, not as much as 350 bps; paragraph 4 to say HDFC hiked rates by 235-265 bps, not 300 bps

By Gopika Gopakumar

MUMBAI, June 10 (Reuters) - Some banks raised rates on foreign currency deposits for non-resident Indians by as much as 300 basis points on Wednesday, seeking to attract dollar inflows after the central bank eased regulatory restrictions last week.

The Reserve Bank of India will bear the ‌full hedging cost for three- to five-year non-resident deposits, it said on Friday, as part of a broader set of measures to encourage overseas flows and stem weakness in the rupee.

The unit is Asia's second-worst-performing currency this year, down 6% so far, and had slipped to record lows in May.

HDFC Bank HDBK.NS, India's largest private sector lender, hiked rates by 235-265 basis points to 6% on three- to five-year deposits.

AU Small Finance Bank AUFI.NS increased rates by 195 bps, offering 7.1% on three-year deposits and 7% on five-year deposits.

Yes Bank YESB.NS has set the rate at 7% on three-year deposits, 7.05% on four-year deposits and 7.10% on five-year deposits, according to a Bloomberg report on Wednesday. A Yes Bank spokesperson did not respond to Reuters' request for comment.

Other banks are expected to announce their new rates this week.

Lenders could raise as much as $35 billion to $40 billion via these foreign currency deposits until September this year, according to a Reuters report. The RBI said it is also open to banks providing guarantees to offshore lenders to lend to NRIs, who can place these borrowed funds as deposits.

The RBI had last launched a concessional forex swap facility for non-resident Indians in 2013 when the ​rupee ⁠had depreciated sharply due to the U.S. Federal Reserve's "taper tantrum". Under that scheme, HDFC Bank mobilised $3.4 billion, followed by ICICI Bank ICBK.NS, SBI SBI.NS and select foreign banks.

(Reporting by Gopika Gopakumar in Mumbai; Editing by Sonia Cheema)

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June 5 (Reuters) - India's ICICI Prudential Asset Management Company IICL.NS said on Friday it has temporarily restricted subscriptions in its gold exchange-traded fund (ETF).

• The company said it will not accept direct subscriptions of more than 250 million rupees ($2.63 million) in the ETF until further notice. It did not mention a reason for the restriction.

• On Thursday, peer HDFC Mutual Fund also restricted lump-sum, or one-time, subscriptions in its gold ETFs, citing market conditions as strong demand for gold amid geopolitical uncertainty drives up inflows into such funds.

• Large inflows can be difficult for gold ETFs to absorb during periods of heavy demand.

• Indian gold ETFs have attracted net inflows of $3.48 billion so far this year.

($1 = 94.9450 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Nishit Navin in Bengaluru; Editing by Sonia Cheema)

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May 22 (Reuters) - Indian private lender ICICI Bank ICBK.NS has received approval from India's central bank to reappoint Sandeep Bakhshi as its chief executive for a further period of two years, with effect from October 4, the bank said in a statement on Friday.

• Bakhshi would remain ICICI's CEO until October 3, 2028, the bank said. In January, the bank's board approved Bakhshi's reappointment, subject to approval from the Reserve Bank of India.

• ICICI Bank is India's second-largest private lender by market capitalisation. Bakhshi has led the bank since 2018.

• Last month, the bank posted a standalone net profit of 137.02 billion Indian rupees ($1.43 billion) for the three months to March 31, up from 126.30 billion rupees ​a year earlier.

($1 = 95.6900 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Kanjyik Ghosh in Barcelona; Editing by Louise Heavens)

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MUMBAI, May 21 (Reuters) - India's ICICI Home Finance Company [RIC:RIC:ICICH.UL] has accepted bids worth 5.5 billion rupees ($57.17 million) in a sale of bonds maturing in three years, three bankers said on Thursday.

The bonds will carry an initial coupon of 7.25%, with subsequent quarterly resets linked to the three-month Treasury bill yield plus a spread of 193 basis points, they said, adding the company had invited commitment bids for the issue on Wednesday.

ICICI Home Finance did not respond to a Reuters email seeking comment.

Here is the list of deals reported so far on May 19:

*Size includes base plus greenshoe for some issues

($1 = 96.2000 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Dharamraj Dhutia and Khushi Malhotra; Editing by Sonia Cheema)

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MUMBAI, May 19 (Reuters) - India's ICICI Home Finance Company ICICH.UL plans to raise up to 6.50 billion rupees ($67.47 million), including a greenshoe option of 1 billion rupees, through a sale of bonds maturing in three years, three bankers said on Tuesday.

It will carry an initial coupon of 7.25%, with subsequent quarterly resets linked to the three-month Treasury bill yield plus a spread of 193 basis points, they said, adding the company has invited commitment bids for the issue on Wednesday.

ICICI Home Finance did not respond to a Reuters email seeking comment.

Here is the list of deals reported so far on May 19:

*Size includes base plus greenshoe for some issues

($1 = 96.3425 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Dharamraj Dhutia and Khushi Malhotra; Editing by Eileen Soreng)

(([email protected], [email protected]))

The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are her own. Updates to add graphic.

By Katrina Hamlin

HONG KONG, May 18 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Prudential PRU.L, 2378.HK has a punchy plan to shake up its life insurance business in India: it's buying a controlling stake in Bharti Life Insurance. Tapping its new partner's telco and asset management customers is a risky alternative to the tried-and-tested model of distributing products via a bank but could be an ingenious way to kickstart growth.

The $38 billion group agreed to acquire 75% of Bharti Life from ​Bharti Life Ventures and 360 ONE Asset Management ONEW.NS for $389 million, it said on Sunday.

That means Prudential CEO Anil Wadhwani is doing a switcheroo: the transaction requires Pru to reduce its stake in an existing venture with ICICI Bank ICBK.NS to under 10%, from 22%, per the company. It could well go on to divest what remains, leaving Bharti as its key partner.

The Indian business is in need of a reboot. New business sales there fell 2% last year, and its ranking among private life insurers fell to fifth from third a year earlier. That was a disappointing result for what ought to be a high-growth market. The world’s most populous country has only 3% penetration in the life insurance space, Prudential reckons.

Wadhwani’s solution is a creative one. Insurers often lean on large banks like ICICI to reach potential policy buyers. But the target’s main attraction is Bharti Airtel’s BRTI.NS nearly 300 million smartphone customers in India, compared with ICICI’s roughly 80 million retail banking clients, per data from Bharti and BCG Matrix. Overlapping markets in Africa could also open up other emerging markets, while the telecom company's asset management arm could help Pru reach India’s high net worth individuals.

But making it work could be tough. JioBlackRock, a joint venture between BlackRock BLK.N and Jio Financial Services JIOF.NS, is tapping additional distributors to sell its products after trying a digital direct model that leaned on its connections to Reliance Jio, India’s largest telecoms group.

And while the deal price seems fair, it’s not a bargain, valuing the company at just over $500 million, or around 1.5 times its embedded value as of September. That’s in line with the average for rivals SBI Life Insurance SBIL.NS, HDFC Life Insurance HDFL.NS and the Life Insurance Corporation of India LIFI.NS, per Visible Alpha, and just below 1.6 times for ICICI Prudential Life Insurance ICIR.NS. Shareholders sent Pru’s stock down 2% in morning trade in Hong Kong. That's probably because Wadhwani's punt for better rewards in India comes with higher risks.

Follow Katrina Hamlin on Bluesky and Linkedin.

CONTEXT NEWS

Insurer Prudential said on May 17 that it has agreed to acquire a 75% stake in Bharti Life Insurance from ​Bharti Life Ventures and 360 ONE Asset Management for an initial cash consideration of $389 million, with a potential additional consideration of up to $78 million, subject to certain conditions.

Prudential’s Hong Kong-listed shares fell 2.26% to HK$116.8 in morning trade on May 18.

(Editing by Antony Currie; Production by Ujjaini Dutta)

((For previous columns by the author, Reuters customers can click on HAMLIN/[email protected]; Reuters Messaging: [email protected]))

By Dharamraj Dhutia

MUMBAI, May 14 (Reuters) - ICICI Prudential Life Insurance (ICIR.NS), one of India’s largest insurers, is tactically increasing its investments in longer maturity government bonds, a position it aims to dial back by September in anticipation of rate hikes, a senior executive said.

The strategy reflects expectations that relatively lower supply of longer tenor debt will briefly push yields on long bonds lower, before two rate hikes of 25 basis points each by India's central bank kick in between October and March, Arun Srinivasan, chief of fixed income at ICICI Prudential Life said in an interview on Wednesday.

The insurer has increased its debt portfolio's modified duration to roughly six years, making it more sensitive to interest rate changes, in a purely tactical near-term move.

"We maintain a strict mandate to unwind these positions and reduce modified duration below five years by September as concerns on fiscal and inflation start to mount," said Srinivasan, citing structural constraints in global oil refining that have likely established a floor under oil prices, reinforcing inflation risks.

India's retail inflation rose by 3.48% in April. The central bank ​targets retail inflation at 4%, within a tolerance band of 2% ​to 6%.

"The impact of high global oil prices have not yet fully impacted Indian retail inflation," analysts at SBI Research said in a Monday note.

Wholesale prices on the other hand, have spiked on higher energy costs, and economists say the increase is likely to pass through to retail inflation with a lag.

"If inflationary pressures remain stubborn, the RBI will be forced to act in the latter part of the year," said Srinivasan.

India's monetary policy can look through temporary supply shocks but ​may intervene if inflation pressures ‌become entrenched, central bank Governor Sanjay ​Malhotra said on Tuesday.

For now, the insurance firm prefers investing in liquid papers, especially the benchmark 10-year bond, to navigate volatility, while allocating to 15-year and 40-year segments for long-term investments.

India's 10-year benchmark bond yield IN064835G=CC traded around 7.03%, while the 15-year and 40-year bond yields were near 7.33% and 7.68% respectively on Thursday.

Srinivasan expects spreads between the 10-year and 40-year bonds to compress in the first half of the financial year before widening again in the second.

Within corporate debt, the insurer is focused on high-quality five-year papers, alongside exposure to acquisition financing trades and similar higher-yield credit opportunities.

($1 = 95.8163 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Dharamraj Dhutia and Gopika Gopakumar; Editing by Ronojoy Mazumdar)

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May 6 (Reuters) - HDFC Bank Ltd HDBK.NS:

• RBI APPROVES HDFC BANK GROUP TO BUY UP TO 9.95% IN ICICI AND KOTAK

Source text: ID:nNSE96X61r

Further company coverage: HDBK.NS

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Mumbai, May 2 (Reuters) - India's Kotak Mahindra Bank KTKM.NS reported a jump in fourth-quarter profit that beat estimates on Saturday, supported by strong loan growth and lower provisions for potential bad loans.

The country's third-largest private lender's standalone net profit rose 13% to 40.27 billion rupees for the quarter ended March 31 from last year. Analysts had expected a profit of 37.37 billion rupees, according to data compiled by LSEG.

Loan demand in India gained momentum in the second half of the fiscal year ended in March ​as easing inflation and lower taxes supported household spending and corporate borrowing.

The lender's net advances expanded 16% in the quarter from a year earlier, mainly driven by retail and corporate loans. Total deposits rose by 15%.

Last month, larger peers HDFC Bank HDBK.NS and ICICI Bank ICBK.NS beat profit views aided by strong loan growth.

Net interest income – the difference between interest earned on loans and interest paid on deposits - rose 8% ​to 78.76 billion rupees.

Provisions and contingencies fell 36% quarter-on-quarter and 43% year-on-year to 5.16 billion rupees.

The lender's gross non-performing asset ratio fell to 1.2% at the end of March, from 1.42% in the year-ago quarter.

(Reporting by Ashwin Manikandan, Jayshree P Upadhyay in Mumbai and Nishit Navin in Bangalore; Editing by Harikrishnan Nair and Peter Graff)

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** Shares of ICICI bank ICBK.NS rise as much as 2.18% to 1,376.40 rupees

** India's second-largest private lender by market cap posted fourth-quarter profit of 137.02 billion rupees ($1.48 billion), 8.5% up y/y

STRONG GROWTH, STABLE ASSET QUALITY

** Jefferies ("buy", PT 1,670 rupees) says credit growth could improve to 15% from fiscal year 2027 on better sector trends, balanced focus on growth and net interest margins; credit costs may rise slightly on normalising recoveries and potential West Asia conflict risks

** JP Morgan ("overweight" PT 1,600) raises FY27–28 forecasts by 0.2% and 0.8%, respectively, on stronger-than-expected growth momentum

** Motilal Oswal ("buy" TP 1,750) expects bank to see gradual re-rating since operating performance holding steady and growth gaining traction; sees FY28 return on assets (RoA) of 2.3% and RoE of 16.2%

** Emkay ("buy", PT 1,785) says bank is well-positioned to deliver 2.1–2.2% RoA over FY27–29, supported by stronger growth, better cost control, and loan loss provisions in check

($1 = 92.7640 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Devika Nair in Bengaluru)

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MUMBAI, April 18 (Reuters) - India's ICICI Bank ICBK.NS reported a stronger-than-expected rise in fourth-quarter profit on Saturday, driven by robust loan growth and lower provisions for bad loans.

The country's second-largest private lender by market capitalisation posted a standalone net profit of 137.02 billion Indian rupees ($1.48 billion) for the three months to March 31, compared with 126.30 billion rupees a year earlier.

Analysts had expected a profit of 126.52 billion rupees, according to data compiled by LSEG.

Indian banks saw credit demand pick up in the second half of the financial year as easing inflation supported consumer spending and corporate borrowing showed signs of revival.

ICICI Bank's total loans grew 15.8% from a year earlier, led by continued momentum in retail lending, particularly mortgages and vehicle loans, while business banking and corporate loans also contributed to growth.

The bank's deposits rose 11.4% during the quarter.

Net interest income – the difference between interest earned on loans and paid on deposits – rose 8.4% to 229.8 billion rupees, helped by loan growth and stable margins.

The bank's net interest margin was steady at 4.32%.

Gross non-performing assets as a percentage of total loans declined to 1.4% at the end of March.

Provisions for bad loans fell 89% to 9.6 billion rupees, driven by stronger recoveries and fewer new defaults.

The bank reported a treasury loss of 1.06 billion rupees, marginally lower than the 1.57 billion rupees in the previous quarter, as higher bond yields and the Indian central bank's curbs on forex positions continued to hurt banks.

($1 = 92.5980 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Ashwin Manikandan; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise)

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By Nidhi Verma and Nimesh Vora

NEW DELHI/MUMBAI, April 17 (Reuters) - Indian refiners are settling payments for rare cargoes of Iranian oil purchased under a temporary U.S. sanctions waiver using Chinese yuan through Mumbai-based ICICI Bank ICBK.NS, four sources with knowledge of the matter said.

Last month, Washington unveiled 30-day waivers on U.S. sanctions for the purchase of Russian and Iranian oil at sea in an attempt to ease prices that were driven up by the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Wednesday said the U.S. would not renew the waivers, with the exemption on Iranian oil set to lapse on Sunday.

Difficulties over arranging payment for such cargoes given longstanding sanctions on Tehran have deterred some would-be buyers of Iranian crude under the waiver, traders have said.

Earlier this month, state-run Indian Oil Corp IOC.NS (IOC), the country's largest refiner, bought 2 million barrels of Iranian oil onboard the very large crude carrier Jaya in the country's first purchase of Iranian crude in seven years, Reuters reported, a cargo worth roughly $200 million.

India has also allowed four vessels carrying Iranian oil to berth for privately-run refiner Reliance Industries RELI.NS, sources said last week. A vessel, the MT Felicity, has discharged thus far, according to LSEG data and a shipping source.

Both refiners are settling the trade through ICICI, which is routing funds in Chinese yuan via its Shanghai branch to seller accounts in yuan. The identity of the sellers could not be determined.

ICICI, IOC, Reliance and India's foreign ministry did not respond to emails seeking comment.

Details on how the cargoes are being paid for have not been previously reported.

NOTICE OF READINESS

IOC paid about 95% of the cargo's value against the supplier's notice of readiness, which indicates that the loaded tanker had entered Indian waters, two of the sources said. One of them said this was an unusual arrangement.

Typically, Indian state-owned refiners settle payments upon delivery or discharge for oil from countries that are sanctioned by Western nations, the two sources said. India has been among the top buyers of Russian oil since Moscow's 2022 invasion of Ukraine resulted in widespread Western sanctions on Russia.

The sources declined to be named as they were not authorised to speak to the media.

Indian refiners have also used China's currency to settle some of their Russian oil purchases.

IOC does not plan to make further Iranian oil purchases, one of the sources said.

Until the U.S. waiver, India had shunned the purchase of Iranian oil since 2019, under pressure from American sanctions.

Chinese independent refiners, known as teapots, have been the main buyers of Iranian oil exports since then.

(Additional Reporting by Gopika Gopakumar in Mumbai and Saurabh Sharma in New Delhi; Editing by Tony Munroe and Thomas Derpinghaus)

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Adds details, analyst comment; updates share

April 15 (Reuters) - Shares of India's ICICI Prudential Life Insurance ICIR.NS rose as much as 7% to a four-week high on Wednesday, a day after the firm posted a 58% jump in quarterly profit, driven by higher policy sales and renewal income.

The shares were up 3.49% at 565.60 rupees as of 10:20 a.m. IST, on track for their best session since July 2024. India's benchmark Nifty 50 .NSEI rose 1.71% while financials gained 1.69%.

ICICI Prudential Life was India's first major life insurer to report in a quarter when retail policy growth is expected to be aided by tax benefits, while demand for market-linked products remains subdued amid equity market volatility.

India's tax cut for life insurance premiums has lowered policy costs, improving affordability and supporting adoption, particularly in protection and term segments, which could drive volumes and product mix, analysts said.

ICICI Prudential's annualised premium equivalent sales - a key measure of new business - rose 9.4% for the three months ended March 31.

Goldman Sachs has raised the value of new business estimates for the insurer by up to 2% for fiscal years 2027 and 2028 on improving product mix and margins while keeping the price target unchanged at 600 rupees.

Motilal Oswal said the insurer's long-term profitability is expected to be supported by higher volumes, aided by tax exemption, stronger traction in non-market-linked products, and improved margins.

(Reporting by Devika Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala)

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April 14 (Reuters) - India's ICICI Prudential Life Insurance ICIR.NS reported a near 58% rise in fourth-quarter profit on Tuesday, aided by a pickup in new business growth and steady income from renewed policies.

Profit stood at 6.09 billion rupees ($65.4 million) for the three months ended March 31, up from 3.86 billion rupees a year earlier.

For the full year, profit rose 34.6% to 16 billion rupees, and included gains from the sale of its stake in ICICI Pension Fund Management Company.

Net premium income jumped 17% to 191.8 billion rupees. One-time premiums increased 46%, while renewal premiums rose nearly 6%.

ICICI Prudential is India's first major life insurer to report its results, in a quarter where retail policy growth is expected to be supported by tax cut benefits, while demand for market-linked products, where returns depend on equity market performance, is likely to remain subdued amid volatility.

"The recent '0% GST reform' in September 2025 has made insurance policies more affordable and our retail protection segment registered a strong 50.9% year-on-year growth in second half of FY26," said MD and CEO Anup Bagchi.

Analysts had expected momentum to pick up for ICICI Prudential Life as it shifted focus back to growth after prioritising margins over volumes in recent quarters, supported by a higher mix of protection and non-participating savings products.

Annualised premium equivalent (APE) sales, a key measure of new business for insurers, rose 9.4% to 38.30 billion rupees.

Value of new business, which reflects expected profit from new policies, increased more than 21% to 9.65 billion rupees, supported by an improved product mix.

Margins on new business expanded to 24.7% at the end of March from 22.8% a year earlier, as a shift toward higher-margin products helped offset the impact of the loss of a tax credit that was removed following tax cuts.

Non-linked and protection products together accounted for 38% of APE, up from 37% a year earlier, while ULIPs made up 48%, down from 49%.

($1 = 93.1060 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Nishit Navin; Editing by Harikrishnan Nair)

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April 13 (Reuters) - ICICI Bank Ltd ICBK.NS:

• ICICI BANK - BOARD TO CONSIDER FUND RAISING VIA DEBT SECURITIES INCLUDING NCDS AND OFFSHORE BONDS

• ICICI BANK - BOARD TO CONSIDER BUYBACK OF DEBT SECURITIES WITHIN AUTHORIZED LIMITS

Source text: ID:nBSE3pvwdX

Further company coverage: ICBK.NS

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Updates to add chart, no changes in text

By Vivek Kumar M

April 9 (Reuters) - India's battered bank stocks offer a compelling buying opportunity, with valuations for some large private lenders near their cheapest levels, said Amish Shah, head of India research at BofA Global Research.

Financials hold the heaviest weight among sectors on the benchmark Nifty 50 index .NSEI, with four banks featuring in the flagship index's top 10 heavyweight stocks.

The Nifty Bank index .NSEBANK has fallen 8% since the start of the Iran war at the end of February, underperforming the benchmark Nifty 50, which is down 4.7% over the same period.

That decline has pushed some large private banks to trade 1.5 to 2.5 standard deviations below their historical average valuations, making them among the cheapest they have been, Shah told Reuters in an interaction.

The decline comes amid a sharp 34% surge in crude oil prices since the Iran war, which has threatened growth and fanned inflation worries in Asia's third-largest economy. O/R

Foreign investors led the sell-off in banks, offloading a record 606.55 billion rupees ($6.53 billion) in shares of financial services companies in March.

"The valuations are extremely attractive," Shah said, adding that BofA expects a rate hike by the Reserve Bank of India later this financial year, which would further support banks by improving margins and strengthening their overall earnings outlook.

India's largest private lenders HDFC Bank HDBK.NS and ICICI Bank ICBK.NS trade at a price-to-book value of 1.8 times and 2.3 times their fiscal year 2027 earnings estimate, as per BofA Global Research.

IT TO UNDERPERFORM

On the contrary, Shah expects information technology stocks .NIFTYIT to continue their underperformance this year despite the ongoing rally driven by rupee depreciation.

He said the artificial intelligence disruption story is real and could slow IT growth in the short run as clients reassess spending and the impact of automation on outsourcing demand.

Over the medium to long term, however, Shah said broader AI adoption across enterprises could create a new growth runway for the sector as companies increase spending on implementation.

The IT index has risen 3.1% since the beginning of the war at the end of February.

BofA has an "Underweight" rating for India's IT sector, while it rates large private sector banks "Overweight".

(Reporting by Vivek Kumar M; Editing by Rashmi Aich)

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By Gopika Gopakumar and Ira Dugal

MUMBAI, March 30 (Reuters) - The surprise exit of HDFC Bank's HDBK.NS chairman that led to a $16 billion stock rout in India's biggest private lender has put its CEO in the spotlight amid rumbles of acrimony in top management and unease about its underperformance versus peers.

Atanu Chakraborty resigned from the lender, which the market values at $121 billion, this month citing differences over "values and ethics", triggering a stock selloff and a damage control exercise by the bank.

While Chakraborty did not elaborate on the differences he referred to, nine people, including board members and some current and former staff, told Reuters the bank had been struggling with internal rifts in recent years, including between the former chairman and CEO Sashidhar Jagdishan.

The two clashed over the bank's strategy and its human resources policies, said the sources with knowledge of the matter who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter.

The HDFC Bank management and India's banking regulator denied any governance or financial problems at the lender, but its stock fell 12% over three days after Chakraborty's exit. It recovered briefly after the bank said last week it had appointed external law firms to review the claims, and has weakened again.

Investor concerns about HDFC Bank's management come at a particularly inconvenient time for the lender - the Middle East conflict is set to weigh on the Indian economy and dim the outlook for credit growth in the banking sector.

"Investors will eventually look at longer-term performance but if results and stock prices underperform markets, shareholders will ask questions of management performance and seek change of leadership," said corporate governance research and proxy advisory firm InGovern founder Shriram Subramanian.

BOARDROOM FRICTION

Jagdishan, whose term as CEO ends in October 2026 unless extended, took over the helm from HDFC Bank founder and chief executive Aditya Puri in 2020.

Chakraborty joined as chairman in April 2021 and the former top bureaucrat soon began involving himself closely in operational and management matters, an unusual move for a non-executive director in an Indian corporate boardroom, four of the sources said.

He also intervened in human resources policies as a member of the nomination and remuneration committee and, in at least one instance, changed the performance ratings of some senior executives, a prerogative of the CEO, according to another former senior executive.

HDFC Bank did not respond to a request for comment from Jagdishan sent via the bank's official spokesperson.

Chakraborty also opposed a proposal in 2024 to approve equity investment by Japan's Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group 8306.T in HDFC Bank's consumer finance arm.

While Jagdishan advocated bringing in a foreign lender as a strategic partner, the former chairman opposed the move, arguing against the involvement of a foreign entity in an Indian company and objecting to the lack of a bidding process in a potential investment, the sources said. The plan ultimately collapsed.

Chakraborty, when asked by Reuters whether there were persistent differences with the CEO and if these had been raised at the board level, said: "There is a structure to handling various governance and accountability issues.

"If the issues need a finality in the Board, then they are placed there. It's a well-laid-out process and it evolves along with changing times," he said via a text message, without elaborating or commenting on other questions.

Besides the differences between the two, the relationship of Jagdishan with some other top executives has also been a concern for investors and staff. That concern came to the fore in an analyst call that the bank held after Chakraborty's resignation.

When asked on the call if there was a power struggle at the management level, especially between the CEO and deputy MD Kaizad Barucha or other top executives, Jagdishan played down those concerns.

"Kaizad is a very dear colleague, and I have the highest regard and respect for him," he said on the call, and added that Barucha, who has the responsibility for the bank's entire loan book, "will only get more responsibilities as we move forward".

Barucha did not respond to Reuters request for comment.

MERGER OVERHANG

The board acrimony also adds to concerns internally about limited gains from the lender's $40 billion merger with its largest shareholder in 2023, and about a stock that has underperformed peers over the past five years, said the sources.

HDFC Bank's absorption of housing financier HDFC Ltd in 2023 added assets of 7.23 trillion rupees ($77 billion) but brought in a relatively small deposit base, squeezing margins, hurting returns and dragging on growth.

The bank's lending margin has dipped to 3.35% now from 4.1% before the merger. It also had to slow asset growth to help steady its loan-to-deposit ratio, which rose to around 110% post merger from 86%–87% prior to it.

While the CEO inevitably bears some responsibility when a stock underperforms, the bank's challenges stem from merger-related execution risks, said Gary Tan, a portfolio manager in the emerging markets equity team at Allspring Global Investments, which owns HDFC shares.

Steve Lawrence, CIO of U.S.-based Balfour Capital Group, said the current situation at HDFC Bank was one of "cyclical execution pressure rather than structural leadership failure".

"Markets demand clarity - and when execution visibility declines, leadership perception becomes a factor in valuation compression," he said.

($1 = 94.6275 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Ira Dugal and Gopika Gopakumar; Additional reporting by Vivek Kumar M in Bengaluru; Editing by Sumeet Chatterjee and Muralikumar Anantharaman)

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By Dharamraj Dhutia

MUMBAI, March 27 (Reuters) - ICICI Prudential Life Insurance ICIR.NS has been trimming exposure to ultra-long government bonds in favour of the medium duration 10–15-year segment and will continue this shift in the near term, a fixed income executive said.

The insurer sees this segment offering a better balance of returns and liquidity than ultra-long bonds.

"Our primary preference remains with government bonds in the 10-year to 15-year segment, as we maintain a cautious stance toward the long end of the curve," said Vidya Iyer, head fixed income at the life insurance company that manages debt worth 1.84 trillion rupees ($19.52 billion).

The segment "offers superior liquidity and aligns strategically with potential open market operations from the Reserve Bank of India," Iyer said.

Iyer's comments come amid a selloff in Indian government bonds, driven by concerns that higher oil prices impacted by the Iran conflict could stoke inflation and strain the fiscal outlook.

A 10-rupee per litre cut in fuel excise duties on Friday could cost about 1.55 trillion rupees annually, according to Emkay Global.

India's 10-year benchmark bond yield climbed to 6.95% on Friday, the highest in 20 months.

Iyer said the exposure to 30–40-year bonds was reduced in late 2025 as market technicals weakened and regulatory changes curbed demand from long-term investors.

After exiting long-duration positions six months ago, there is no immediate case to re-enter the ultra-long 30–40 year segment, she added.

Yields on 30-year and 40-year bonds have risen about 50 basis points since early October, while the 10-year is up about 35 basis points.

That shift helped shield the portfolio from widening spreads between the 10-year and ultra-long bonds.

The insurer is also moving down the duration curve in corporate bonds, favouring the five-year tenor over the 10-year, where limited supply and shallow market depth constrain execution, she added.

"Recent high-quality acquisitions have allowed us to build a good position for our carry portfolio. Under our base-case scenario of a prolonged RBI pause, five-year corporate bonds offer attractive yields and are particularly well-suited for a one-to-two-year roll down strategy."

($1 = 94.2400 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Dharamraj Dhutia; Editing by Nivedita Bhattacharjee)

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