Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI) was founded in 1972 by Agha Hasan Abedi together with a group of senior bankers, many with roots in Pakistan and the wider developing world.
Over the next two decades, it grew into a major international bank operating across numerous countries. During its later years, serious financial and regulatory problems emerged, followed by internal investigations, substantial shareholder support and a major restructuring programme. The Bank was abruptly closed by regulatory authorities in July 1991.
This page sets out some of the key events in that story in the order in which they occurred. It is not intended to provide a complete history of BCCI, but to give new visitors a concise introduction to the developments that most influenced the Bank's growth, difficulties, restructuring, closure and subsequent liquidation.
The events covered include how BCCI was established and expanded internationally; its support for education, development and humanitarian initiatives in countries of the Global South; the financial difficulties that emerged during the 1980s; the investigations undertaken into those problems; the measures and restructuring programme introduced to address them; and finally, the Bank's closure, liquidation and the subsequent inquiry into its supervision.
Some of these events are straightforward matters of historical record. Others were strongly disputed at the time and continue to be interpreted differently by former employees, shareholders, regulators, journalists, politicians and the courts. Where appropriate, the individual pages distinguish between what occurred, what was alleged, the actions subsequently taken and how those events were later assessed, allowing readers to consider the evidence and form their own view.
A number of these subjects - particularly BCCI's supervision, restructuring and closure - are examined in greater depth elsewhere on this website under Perspective.
The key events covered in this section can also be accessed under the headings listed in the side menu:
Key Events covered
- 1972 - Establishment and Early Development
- 1978 - Bank of America Divestment & Staff Benefit Trust
- 1978 - 1979 - Third World Foundation & Global South Vision
- 1978 onwards - BCCI Foundations & Development Programmes
- 1977 - 1982 - US Expansion & First American Bankshares
- 1980s - International Training & China Programme
- 1980s - Global 2000 & International Development
- 1984 -1986 - BCCI Central Treasury Losses
- 1987 - Licensed Depositor Status in the United Kingdom
- 1988 -1990 - Money-Laundering Indictment & Settlement
- 1990 - Internal Task Force Investigation & Disclosure to the Bank of England
- 1990 -1991 - Abu Dhabi Majority Shareholding & Restructuring Programme
- July 1991 - Regulatory Closure
- 1991 onwards - Liquidation
- 1992 - Bingham Report on the Supervision of BCCI