BlackRock Manager Grills HDFC Bank in Call on Chair’s Exit (1)

Hours after the startling resignation of HDFC Bank Ltd.’s chairman, executives at India’s largest private lender hastily arranged a call to assure investors that all was well. Though the stock had tumbled the most in almost two years, management insisted there was nothing material in Atanu Chakraborty’s abrupt departure over “ethics.”

Investors weren’t buying it. Less than half an hour into the call, without any clear explanations, Prashant Periwal of BlackRock Asset Management let loose.

“So far, whatever I heard on this call doesn’t make me any wiser than I was an hour ago,” said Periwal. “Look, if it ...