The Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI) at Nariman Point (Bombay. India) continues to astound. An Arab-owned, Luxembourg-based bank which was viewed with some suspicion when it first set up its branch just 18 months ago, the BCCI has grown so rapidly in the interim that it has now become the largest foreign bank in India in terms of deposits mobilization. Competitors tended at first to write off BCCI's extraordinary success to sharp banking practices, but the bank has now begun to earn some grudging compliments for its aggressively effective methods. The bank started merchant banking operations just four months ago, in March. Characteristically, it has stormed the field, tying up some 15 major equity and debenture issues since then, including prestigious new issues by Reliance Textiles, United Sova and Bharat Pipes.
Read the full issue here: BCC International - No. 32