The Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) has barred HDFC bank‘s Dubai branch to onboard new clients, reports said. HDFC has announced that its Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) branch has received a formal direction from the DFSA in this regard.
The directive of the DFSA, dated September 25, 2025, has prohibited the DIFC branch of the HDFC bank from soliciting or conducting business with new clients who had not completed the onboarding process by that date. Besides this, a range of financial services activities like advising on financial products, arranging investment deals, arranging or advising on credit, and custody-related services are all covered under the restrictions imposed on the branch.
The branch has also been asked not to engage in financial promotions. However, the Dubai regulator said, existing clients can continue to avail the services, and clients who had previously received financial services but were not formally onboarded may still be accommodated in the same.
HDFC bank’s response
Responding to the development, the HDFC bank said that the DIFC branch’s operations are not material to the bank’s overall financial position, and no significant financial impact is expected through this order of the DFSA. It stated that as of September 23, 2025, the branch had 1,489 onboarded customers.
HDFC bank added that it was in the process to implement the measures suggested by the DFSA in fresh directives to address all the concerns timely.
“The bank has already initiated necessary steps to comply with the directives in the above-referred notice and is committed to work with the DFSA in its ongoing investigation and to promptly remediate and address the DFSA concerns at the earliest,” the company said in a statement.
“The business undertaken at the DIFC Branch is not material to the Bank’s operations or its financial position and accordingly no material impact/implications are expected with respect to the overall operations or financial position of the Bank,” it added.
By when will the order remain in place?
The directive came into effect on September 26 when the bank received the notice through an email and will remain enforced until the DFSA issues an amendment or revocation in writing against the order.
In its directive, the regulatory authority cited concerns around the financial services provided to clients who were not properly onboarded and issues in the branch’s onboarding processes at the DIFC branch.