The Punjab National Bank on Tuesday appointed AK Pradhan the group chief risk officer. He currently holds the post of general manager.

The move comes soon after the finance ministry set a 15-day deadline for public sector banks to take pre-emptive action for identifying increasing operational and technical risks. The ministry has directed the managing directors of all state-run banks to detect frauds and consequential wilful defaulters on time and refer the cases to the Central Bureau of Investigation, Financial Services Secretary Rajeev Kumar said. The banks have also been asked to examine all non-performing assets above Rs 50 crore for possible fraud.

Punjab National Bank has been at the centre of a controversy after it accused billionaire jewellery designer of defrauding it. On Monday, the bank claimed that the amount of fraudulent transactions could be Rs 1,300 crore more than the current estimate of Rs 11,380 crore, bringing the total to Rs 12,703 crore.