The Bank That Was Buried Alive
BCCI: Inception, Expansion and Forced Closure, 1972–1991
Forthcoming Book
The Bank That Was Buried Alive traces BCCI’s inception, international expansion and forced closure, with particular attention to its final years: the serious problems identified, the Abu Dhabi-backed restructuring programme and the abrupt closure in July 1991, led by the Bank of England.
It examines why restructuring was suddenly abandoned and how the Bank of England acted on a Section 41 report received only in draft form. The investigation had been commissioned confidentially, without the knowledge of Abu Dhabi, whose majority shareholders remained committed to providing financial support. The book asks whether BCCI and its Abu Dhabi majority shareholders were given a meaningful opportunity to respond to any new concerns before closure, and whether other pressures or influences played a role in forcing BCCI’s closure in 1991.
It considers the transactions largely controlled by BCCI’s chief executive that lay at the centre of the key allegations, the alternatives to worldwide closure, and the consequences for customers, employees and the reputation of BCCI as a whole. Should viable banking operations have been preserved through the restructuring already underway, avoiding a lengthy and costly liquidation that generated substantial fees for accountants and lawyers?
Completing the BCCI Insights website is the first step. Its documents, reports, research and contemporary accounts will provide the principal foundation for the book, preserving BCCI’s history from inception and expansion to closure and its aftermath.
Read the fuller synopsis in Books.