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NEW DELHI: As many as 30 banks, including some foreign lenders, are believed to have paid out funds based on letters of undertaking ( LoUs ) issued by state-run Punjab National Bank on behalf of Nirav Modi Mehul Choksi and their companies, a parliamentary committee said in a report, calling for a wider probe into the matter.The report, which ET has reviewed, named State Bank of India, Union Bank of India, Allahabad Bank and Axis Bank as being among those that honoured the PNB guarantees. The instruments are at the heart of the PNB fraud allegedly perpetrated by jewellers Modi, Choksi, their companies and bank officials.Under the circumstances, the recapitalisation of state-run banks may amount to throwing “good money after bad,” the standing committee on finance headed by Congress member M Veerappa Moily said.The government has embarked on a Rs 2.11 lakh crore recapitalisation programme for state-run banks, about half of which is already complete. “International branches of many other Indian banks, it is believed as many as 30, including State Bank of India, Union Bank of India, Allahabad Bank, Axis Bank and some foreign banks, lent money to a particular entity or many entities or companies based on these alleged fraudulent guarantees,” the committee said in its report.The committee said every SWIFT message should trigger an alert at the regulator, the Reserve Bank of India. This should happen “when the Letter of Undertaking is originated, as well as when its receipts and lending against it are notified to the LoU-issuing bank, by simply tagging the regulator,” it said. The SWIFT or Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication network is used to convey information about overseas payments among banks.The committee also directed the finance ministry to institute a comprehensive enquiry encompassing both human and systemic elements in the matter and submit its report within a month. It further noted that a balance has to be ensured to incentivise performance and build the confidence of bankers as that determines the quality of banking.A senior finance ministry official said the government will discuss all the recommendations made by the committee with the regulator and other stakeholders. “A multi-agency probe has already been ordered and letters of request to 13 countries have been sent seeking details of properties, bank accounts of companies,” he said.These are being conducted by the Central Bureau of Investigation and the Enforcement Directorate among others. The Serious Fraud Investigation Office is examining 107 companies and seven limited liability partnerships linked to the Modi and Choksi groups with regard to the PNB fraud. The agency had earlier summoned executives of private sector banks such as ICICI Bank and Axis Bank in relation to the probe into Mehul Choksi's Gitanjali Gems.