The group of greater than 75, which accounts for greater than $13.5 million in principal funding in Carlisle’s Luxembourg Life Fund, is consolidating complaints and exploring legal action against HDFC Bank, a few of the buyers advised ET. It additionally plans to strategy the Reserve Bank of India and Central Bank of Bahrain whereas some buyers have already independently complained to the Dubai Monetary Providers Authority (DFSA).
“We’re planning to write down to the PMO this week, highlighting the intense client-suitability lapses at HDFC Financial institution in Dubai, issues round leverage, disclosures, investor losses, and denial of liquidity,” stated Hitesh Bhatia, a Dubai-based former banker who invested within the fund in 2019. “We are going to request that the matter be referred to the suitable regulatory and investigative authorities.”
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ET BureauThe transfer follows years of disputes over the fund, with buyers alleging that the insurance-linked product was marketed as a capital safety funding, whereas leverage provided alongside the funding considerably elevated their publicity and losses in the course of the Covid-19 market crash.
One of many buyers alleged the Carlisle-linked product was introduced to them as a capital safety, insurance-linked funding with previous returns of 12-19% a yr.
The transfer comes within the backdrop of DFSA’s motion in opposition to HDFC Financial institution’s DIFC department in 2025, over alleged mis-selling of high-risk Credit score Suisse AT1 bonds to retail clients, when it restricted the department from onboarding new shoppers and conducting specified financial-services actions with them, following regulatory issues.Additionally learn: EAC moots consolidation to create a few large banks
Bhatia stated the investor group can also be planning to achieve out to the RBI, file a grievance with the Central Financial institution of Bahrain, and rent a lawyer to take up the matter with DFSA.
“We’ve got written a letter to the HDFC Financial institution and given them time until August 31 to reply. In case they don’t reply, we are going to go for the authorized recourse,” he stated.
DFSA is the unbiased regulator of all monetary companies carried out by means of the Dubai Worldwide Monetary Centre (DIFC), a federal monetary freezone in Dubai.
The investor cited above shared correspondence and information with ET, and alleged that HDFC Financial institution provided leverage of three to 5 instances the quantity of deposits blocked with the financial institution for funding within the merchandise.
