Bank of Credit and Commerce International
-------------------------------------------------
Bank of Credit and Commerce International
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Bank of Credit and Commerce International | | Industry | Banking | Fate | Liquidation / Forced closure | Defunct | 1991 | Headquarters | London (incorporated inLuxembourg) | Key people | Agha Hasan Abedi (Founder) | Employees | approx. 30,000 |
The Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI) was a major international bank founded in 1972 by Agha Hasan Abedi, a Pakistani financier.[1] 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.[2][3]
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 5 July of that year customs and bank regulators in seven countries raided and locked down records of its branch offices.[4]
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
Bank of Credit and Commerce International
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Bank of Credit and Commerce International | | Industry | Banking | Fate | Liquidation / Forced closure | Defunct | 1991 | Headquarters | London (incorporated inLuxembourg) | Key people | Agha Hasan Abedi (Founder) | Employees | approx. 30,000 |
The Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI) was a major international bank founded in 1972 by Agha Hasan Abedi, a Pakistani financier.[1] 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.[2][3]
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 5 July of that year customs and bank regulators in seven countries raided and locked down records of its branch offices.[4]
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