Accounts by former BCCI executives and contemporary material indicate that Abedi regarded expansion in the United States as an important stage in BCCI’s development from an international network serving cross-border business into a major banking institution with a substantial presence in the principal financial markets of the world.
BCCI already maintained a number of branches and representative offices in the United States, primarily supporting the international business generated through its global network of branches and customers. However, establishing a significant local banking presence in the United States - the world’s largest and most influential financial market - formed an important part of Agha Hasan Abedi’s longer-term ambitions for BCCI.
From late 1977, a group of Middle Eastern investors associated with BCCI sought to acquire Financial General Bankshares, a Washington-based banking group with subsidiary banks in several US states. The Federal Reserve approved the acquisition in August 1981, and it was completed in April 1982. Financial General Bankshares was renamed First American Bankshares in August 1982.
The relationship between BCCI and First American subsequently became one of the most controversial aspects of BCCI’s history. US regulators later alleged that BCCI had exercised undisclosed ownership and influence over the acquiring shareholder structure, despite representations during the regulatory approval process that BCCI would act only as an adviser to the investors.
For the purposes of BCCI’s wider history, however, First American should also be viewed in the context of Abedi’s broader ambition to establish a substantial banking presence in the United States. The subsequent ownership controversy and regulatory findings are considered separately in the relevant sections of this website.