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1. The Bank of Commerce and Credit International, S.A.
The Bank of Commerce and Credit Holdings, S.A.1 (Luxembourg)
(hereinafter BCCI) was organized, chartered, and headquartered in
Luxembourg. BCCI was established in 1972 by Agha Hasan Abedi, a
Pakistani banker, who feared the imminent nationalization of
Pakistan's banks. BCCI's principal investors resided in Abu Dhabi.
Bank of America also maintained a 30-percent stake in the venture,
in an effort to increase its banking ties in the Middle East.
BCCI had two operating subsidiaries: the Bank of Commerce and
Credit International, S.A. (BCCI, S.A.), organized and
headquartered in Luxembourg, and the Bank of Commerce and Credit
International, S.A. Cayman Islands (BCCI Cayman Islands), organized
and headquartered in the Cayman Islands. BCCI chartered its
operating subsidiaries in Luxembourg and the Cayman Islands because
those jurisdictions are considered tax havens; moreover, they
contain no central bank and minimal bank regulation. Over the
years, BCCI established approximately 350 offices throughout the
Middle East, Africa, Latin America, and Asia.
BCCI and its operating subsidiaries were "foreign banks"
within the meaning of title 12 of the U.S. Code, Banks and Banking,
section 3101(7) (1994). Pursuant to title 12, a foreign bank can
be licensed to do business in the United States in one of four
1 "S.A." is the French equivalent to "Inc.", an
abbreviation of "Societe Anonyme", the French word for
corporation.
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