Big jewellers, other banks under lens

Major jewellers — Gitanjali, Ginni and Nakshatra — have also come under the scanner of various investigating agencies following PNB's admission of the Rs 11,400 crore fraud.

The CBI and the Enforcement Directorate are looking at their arrangements with various banks and the end use of the money, a senior official of a public sector bank told PTI.

No immediate comments were available from these companies.

The SEB, in turn, will probe possible disclosure lapses by banks and other listed companies, including jewellery firms which have come under the scanner. Besides, the watchdog and the stock exchanges would analyse trading data of these companies and their top officials, some of whom are already under the scanner for insider trade and other violations, officials said.

The latest development, experts believe, is expected to give a further push to the regulator's proposal to mandate listed companies to disclose loan defaults within a day of happening. The proposal has been put off apparently due to reservations expressed by the banking industry.

Banks have been also told to look at their systems and processes, so that such frauds are not repeated, the official said.

In fact, all banks have been asked to present a status report as soon as possible, he added.