India’s largest private sector lender, HDFC Bank, has been barred from onboarding new customers at its branch in the Dubai International Financial Centre by the local regulator owing to what seem to be alleged violations pertaining to financial services.
While the exact details of the alleged violations against the bank were not immediately clear, the bank said it had initiated the necessary steps to comply with the notice of the Dubai Financial Services Authority.
The bank said it has received the “decision notice” from DFSA, which points to alleged violations pertaining to financial services offered by the DIFC branch to customers not onboarded at the outlet, and also in the onboarding of customers at the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) Branch, it said in an exchange filing late on Friday evening.
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"The bank has already initiated necessary steps to comply with the directives in the notice and is committed to working with the DFSA to promptly remediate and address DFSA concerns at the earliest," the HDFC Bank filing said.
The bank said it did not see any material impact from it, but disclosed that it has also been barred from soliciting customers. It added, however, that it can continue to service existing customers.
The regulatory decision will be in force till the bank gets a communication from the watchdog, amending or revoking its decision in writing, the bank said.
The DIFC branch has 1,489 customers, including joint accounts.
The HDFC Bank scrip had closed 0.47 per cent down at ₹945.15 apiece on the BSE on Friday against a 0.90 per cent correction on the benchmark.
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