About BCCI Insights

This website is maintained by former BCCI employees as an information resource for students, researchers, former employees, families, historians, documentary producers and others seeking to understand BCCI’s history, operations, global role, the vision of its Founder, and the controversial circumstances surrounding its closure in 1991.

The Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI), founded in 1972, grew faster than almost any other international bank. Within two decades it had developed a presence in 73 countries, with approximately 14,000 employees serving more than one million customers across developed and developing markets.

BCCI was created by bankers from the developing world and grew into one of the most geographically widespread banking institutions of its time. Its history therefore extends well beyond the conventional story of a Western financial institution.

The story of BCCI has, however, largely been shaped by the events surrounding its closure and by allegations and accounts that emerged in the years that followed.

This website seeks to bring together a substantial body of material relating to BCCI’s history, operations and closure, including documents, reports, records, contemporary publications and personal recollections that have previously been overlooked, unavailable or insufficiently examined.

Why Revisit the Record?

For more than three decades, BCCI has frequently been described in terms such as “the largest bank fraud in world financial history” and as an organisation characterised by a “criminal culture from top to bottom.”

These descriptions became deeply embedded in public understanding of BCCI following its closure.

The purpose of this website is not to ignore the serious allegations, financial problems and wrongdoing that were identified within parts of BCCI. Rather, it is to bring together additional material and perspectives so that the circumstances surrounding the Bank, its operations and its closure can be examined more fully.

The question is not whether serious allegations were made. They were. The question is whether the history of BCCI has been examined from all relevant perspectives and whether the conclusions drawn about the entire institution and its people should be revisited.

BCCI and the Developing World

BCCI was unusual in international banking.

Its Founder, Agha Hasan Abedi, came from the developing world, as did many of the Bank's senior executives and employees. Its operations extended extensively across Asia, Africa, the Middle East and other developing markets.

The Bank's relationship-based approach to banking was influenced by the cultural, commercial and social environments in which it operated. Personal relationships, trust and knowledge of local markets were important elements of its business model.

For many of its employees and customers, particularly in developing countries, BCCI represented something different: an international bank created outside the traditional centres of Western banking and capable of connecting developing economies with international financial markets.

The consequences of BCCI's closure were also felt particularly strongly in a number of developing countries.

A United Nations Centre on Transnational Corporations study, prepared following a meeting of experts in London in November 1991, examined the closure of BCCI and its implications for international cooperation in transnational banking. The study considered the economic consequences of abruptly closing an international banking network and examined, among other possibilities, proposals for restructuring or reorganising parts of the BCCI network

Contemporary reporting on the UN study highlighted its concern that the economic consequences of the closure fell particularly heavily on countries such as Nigeria, Bangladesh and Zambia, where BCCI had been an important banking institution.

The UN study is an important part of the historical record because it considered BCCI not simply as a failed bank, but also the wider consequences of the decision to close an international banking network whose operations were particularly significant in developing countries.

The experience of BCCI's employees and customers in these countries is therefore an important part of the history that deserves to be preserved and examined alongside the allegations and investigations surrounding the Bank.

The historical significance of that experience should not be lost when examining the events that ultimately brought the Bank to an end.

The Closure of BCCI

BCCI was closed in July 1991 through coordinated regulatory action, principally involving the Bank of England and the Luxembourg authorities.

The circumstances surrounding the closure remain controversial.

At the time, BCCI was facing serious financial and regulatory problems, including problem loans, concealed liabilities and other matters identified through investigations. At the same time, the Abu Dhabi majority shareholders had committed substantial financial support and were working with BCCI, Price Waterhouse and regulators on a major restructuring programme.

The restructuring envisaged reorganising the Group into separately regulated banking operations in London, Abu Dhabi and Hong Kong, with problem assets separated into a separate recovery operation. The Bank of England had considered the proposed structure potentially acceptable in principle.

On 4 July 1991, one day before the closure was announced, a further US$650 million was transferred as part of the financial support arrangements. BCCI was closed on 5 July while the restructuring process was still being considered and implemented.

The central question is therefore not simply what happened inside BCCI. It is also why a substantially supported restructuring programme, that was agreed in princiole by the Bank of England was abandoned and the entire international Group was abruptly closed.

The Bingham Inquiry examined the supervision of BCCI and the conduct of the UK authorities. Its report remains an essential source for understanding the events leading to closure. However, its terms of reference did not constitute a separate and comprehensive inquiry into every alternative to closure or every consequence of that decision.

BCCI Insights seeks to bring together the wider material necessary for those questions to be examined.

A Different Perspective

The website does not claim to provide the final word on BCCI.

Nor does it ask readers simply to accept another established narrative.

Its purpose is to make available as much relevant material as possible and to allow readers to examine the evidence, consider different perspectives and form their own conclusions.

It is important for future generations, including researchers, historians, journalists and documentary film producers, to be able to access the material, examine the evidence for themselves, revisit the allegations made against BCCI, and consider alternative perspectives and interpretations of its history and legacy.

The website therefore brings together documents, reports, contemporary publications, commentary, personal recollections and research from different sources.

What the Website Contains

BCCI Insights covers:

the formation and development of BCCI;
the vision of its Founder, Agha Hasan Abedi;
BCCI's international expansion and operations;
its contribution to banking in developing countries;
its management and organisational philosophy;
financial and regulatory challenges;
the restructuring programme of 1990 - 1991;
the events surrounding its closure;
the liquidation and its consequences;
the allegations and investigations that followed;
contemporary reports, books and publications;
documents and records obtained through research and disclosure processes;
recollections and contributions from former employees and others connected with BCCI.

The material will continue to grow.

Building the Historical Record

Much of the material relating to BCCI is scattered among former employees, families, private collections, libraries, archives and institutions around the world.

More than three decades after the closure, locating historical documents from the 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s is increasingly difficult. Some records have been lost or destroyed, while many people who experienced BCCI have passed away.

There is therefore a limited opportunity to preserve the documents and recollections that still survive.

The website does not claim to present a complete record of BCCI. Given the scale of the organisation and the passage of time, a completely comprehensive archive may never be possible.

The objective is to preserve as much relevant material as reasonably possible, make it accessible in one place, and encourage others to contribute documents, recollections and research.

The Books Project

The material assembled through BCCI Insights will also form the foundation for a planned programme of books.

The initial programme envisages four books, each examining a different aspect of BCCI's history and legacy. The first planned publication is The BCCI Saga.

The books will not simply reproduce the contents of the website. They will draw on the archival documents, contemporary records, personal recollections, research and further material gathered as the website develops, including information obtained through disclosure and RTI processes.

Once the website and underlying archive have reached an advanced stage, this material will provide the foundation for more detailed research and publication.

The website is the growing archive. The books will turn that research and evidence into a lasting historical record.

Detailed synopses of the four proposed books can be found in the Library / Books section of this website.

Contribute to the Record

Contributions from former BCCI employees, customers, families and others with relevant material are particularly welcome.

These may include:

internal documents;
reports and memoranda;
circulars and manuals;
letters and correspondence;
minutes of meetings;
personal recollections;
photographs;
publications;
audio and video material;
other documents or records relating to BCCI.

Every contribution can help broaden the range of perspectives available and preserve material that might otherwise disappear.

The objective is simple:

To preserve the history, make the evidence accessible, encourage further research and ensure that the story of BCCI can be examined by future generations from more than one perspective.

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