From the CEO to the CFO and CMO, according to the probe, several key management personnel were fully aware of the “differential interest” being routed through the marketing department.Explaining its code of ethics for directors and top management, HDFC Bank, on its website, underlines how “integrity, transparency and accountability are fundamental” to its ethos and how it intends to ensure its management’s commitment to “highest business and ethical standards while conducting the business of the Bank and compliance with the legal and regulatory requirements.”The fact that the bank’s top brass were aware of the Rs 45-crore payment, which, according to its Vigilance probe, violates RBI rules and bank’s own norms, raises questions about HDFC Bank’s corporate governance and its adherence to its code of ethics.Express Investigation | HDFC Bank ‘camouflaged’ crores as marketing spend to pay higher interest to state firmFrom the CEO to the CFO and CMO, according to the probe, several key management personnel were fully aware of the “differential interest” being routed through the marketing department as payments for road safety campaigns by MSRDC, a state government agency that promised hefty deposits.A senior official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that the bank which has total deposits of Rs 31 lakh crore as of March 31, 2026, is certainly better placed to avoid the “lure of a few thousand crores” as deposits rather than “take such questionable steps like routing money through a bunch of vendors as sponsorship payments.”Read | HDFC Bank chairman quits, cites ethical concerns, ‘certain practices’A top source familiar with the internal inquiry said, “Not only is this a violation of the Banking Regulation Act, it also raises questions of ethics. Banks cannot give a negotiated rate to any one customer and cannot incentivise customers for keeping deposits beyond a certain limit.”The source added that because payments were routed through vendors rather than credited directly to MSRDC’s account as interest earned, the vendors would have raised invoices and claimed input tax credit — creating an additional layer of irregularity.As for MSRDC, while it did not reply to a questionnaire from The Indian Express, a senior official with the firm said: “MSRDC received the entire interest differential at the promised rate. What the bank has done at their end is their matter.” © The Indian Express Pvt LtdTags:hdfcHDFC Bank