The Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI) was a major international bank founded in 1972 by Agha Hasan Abedi, a Pakistani financier. The Bank was registered in Luxembourg with head offices in Karachi and London. Within a decade BCCI touched its peak. It operated in 78 countries, had over 400 branches, and had assets in excess of US$20 billion, making it the 7th largest private bank in the world by assets.
BCCI came under the scrutiny of numerous financial regulators and intelligence agencies in the 1980s due to concerns that it was poorly regulated. Subsequent investigations revealed that it was involved in massive money laundering and other financial crimes, and illegally gained controlling interest in a major American bank. BCCI became the focus of a massive regulatory battle in 1991 and on July 5 of that year customs and bank regulators in seven countries raided and locked down records of its branch offices.
Investigators in the U.S. and the UK revealed that BCCI had been "set up deliberately to avoid centralized regulatory review, and operated extensively in bank secrecy jurisdictions. Its affairs were extraordinarily complex. Its officers were sophisticated international bankers whose apparent objective was to keep their affairs secret, to commit fraud on a massive scale, and to avoid detection."
The liquidators, Deloitte & Touche, filed a lawsuit against Price Waterhouse and Ernst & Young – the bank's auditors – which was settled for $175 million in 1998. A further lawsuit against UAE President Zayed II, a major shareholder, was launched in 1999 for approximately $400 million. BCCI creditors also instituted a $1 billion suit against the Bank of England as a regulatory body. After a nine-year struggle, due to the Bank's statutory immunity, the case went to trial in January 2004. However, in November 2005, Deloitte persuaded creditor Abu Dhabi to drop its claims against the Bank of England, except for a claim for return of its deposits, in that Abu Dhabi owned 77% of the bank shares at closing, and was therefore also facing a major lawsuit. To date liquidators have recovered about 75% of the creditors' lost money. A decade after its liquidation, its activities were still not completely understood.
Read more about Bank Of Credit And Commerce International: History, Lending Practices, Philanthropic Contributions, The Sandstorm Report, The Forced Closure of BCCI, Former Directors
Famous quotes containing the words bank of, bank, credit and/or commerce:
“That strain again, it had a dying fall;
O, it came oer my ear like the sweet sound
That breathes upon a bank of violets,
Stealing and giving odor. Enough, no more,
Tis not so sweet now as it was before.”
—William Shakespeare (15641616)
“We bank over Boston. I am safe. I put on my hat.
I am almost someone going home. The story has ended.”
—Anne Sexton (19281974)
“My credit now stands on such slippery ground
That one of two bad ways you must conceit me,
Either a coward or a flatterer.”
—William Shakespeare (15641616)
“Here, the churches seemed to shrink away into eroding corners. They seem to have ceased to be essential parts of American life. They no longer give life. It is the huge buildings of commerce and trade which now align the people to attention. These in their massive manner of steel and stone say, Come unto me all ye who labour, and we will give you work.”
—Sean OCasey (18841964)