Finance Ministry Meets With PSBs, CBI To Expedite Probe In Bank Fraud Cases

In order to fasten the process of investigation in bank fraud-related cases, officials of the Department of Financial Services met with representatives of public sector banks on Wednesday, according to a release issued by the Ministry of Finance.

The "coordination meeting on vigilance matters of PSBs" was held to enhance inter-departmental cooperation among different government departments, Central Bureau of Investigation and public sector lenders, it stated.

As bank-related frauds are a major area of concern, the meeting focused on expeditious and effective investigation in such cases that will have "salutary deterrent effect" and is likely to further catalyse resolution of stressed banking assets.

"For facilitating this, various areas of cooperation between CBI and PSBs were discussed, with detailed presentations made by DFS and CBI to highlight the progress made in investigation of bank fraud cases and other operational issues," the statement said.  

So far, various measures taken by the government such as Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, and creation of National Asset Reconstruction Company has led to an improvement in asset quality and performance of state-owned banks, it added. 

"It was noted during the meeting that amendments made to Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, to prevent investigation and prosecution of bankers for bonafide decisions has had a positive impact," the ministry said.

The meeting was attended by DFS Secretary M Nagaraju, CBI Director Chairman Praveen Sood, State Bank of India Chairman CS Setty and managing directors and chief executive officers of other public sector lenders, along with members of the Reserve Bank of India, among others.

Discussions were also held around operational issues in relation to complaint filing with CBI in bank fraud cases, regular review of probe and support required by the agency during the investigation process.

The meeting also brought to light that regular discussion between bankers and CBI will bring in operational efficiencies in investigation of bank fraud cases.

PSB Alliance, a company set up by public sector banks to jointly offer important customer-oriented services, also made a presentation about "asset tracing" information technology application.

"Various features of IT application were discussed during the course of meeting. It was decided that all PSBs will independently evaluate the requirement of such an application for their organisation," the ministry said.