Senior banking sources say that Law Reform Commission (LRC) recommendations from April 2006 to move conveyancing of property deeds and solicitors' undertakings onto an electronic basis might have prevented solicitors Michael Lynn and Thomas Byrne from racking up millions in mortgage debt without their lenders knowing.

Lynn is understood to owe at least 52m to six banks, but that figure is expected to grow as four other banks who are believed to have lent to him have yet to make final determinations of their liabilities. Thomas Byrne is estimated to owe a similar amount to five banks, although the full extent of the borrowings won't be known for up to three weeks, when the banks are expected to finish their audits and information sharing.

Lynn and Byrne were able to secretly remortgage properties multiple times with different banks by giving misleading undertakings (as solicitors) that the homes were unencumbered by other mortgages. Such undertakings are routinely taken on trust by banks where the production of relevant documents would slow the process but the system leaves no easy way for bankers to guard against fraud, since undertakings are not officially registered as mortgages are. E-conveyancing would, however, provide banks with easily accessible electronic records of all mortgages against a property.

Despite endorsement by the Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, as long ago as June 2005, e-conveyancing is far from reality. Bankers are concerned new regulations on property transactions might be introduced in the absence of progress on that front, slowing down a process that already takes an average of 40 days to complete. One executive at a specialist lender said that "because of this joke of Law Society self-regulation, conveyancing costs will now increase and hurt consumers".

The Irish Banking Federation, the representative body for the banking sector, would only say that "progress has not been as fast as the IBF would have liked". "The IBF, in consultation with its members and in dialogue with the other stakeholders [the Law Society and Land Registry], has tried to drive e-conveyancing to put solicitors' undertakings on an electronic basis . . . unfortunately this has not been achieved, " an IBF spokesman told the Sunday Tribune.

The IBF signalled in a prepared statement, however, that its members are ready to push harder on econveyancing in light of of the trouble with Lynn and Byrne: "The IBF believes it appropriate for procedures to be examined in light of the most recent developments. To this end, and as further clarity emerges around all of the relevant aspects, IBF is consulting with member institutions and will be engaging with other stakeholders . . . including the Law Society and Land Registry . . . to help identify where and how the system can be further improved in the interests of all parties."

At least one senior lawyer agrees with the IBF.

Bernard McEvoy of McEvoy Partners told the Sunday Tribune that a web-based information system would be better than regulation of the legal profession.

"If you had an electronic registry of undertakings, you would be able to check immediately if money had been advanced on a property, " he said. "Then any remortgages would pay off any other remortgages first by releasing money directly to the prior lender."