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Case Study Of BCCI Fraud

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The Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI) fraud was a major international banking fraud which resulted in the collapse of the bank in 1991. The estimated amount involving the fraud was around £800 million at that time. The bank was operating in 78 countries with around 400 branches and it attracted mainly Asian communities as their customers. As a result of the collapse of the bank, hundreds of thousands of people around the world lost their savings. It also included local councils such as Western Isles, Westminster City and Harlow. The case attracted the media spotlight and caused great concern in political circles and in the banking sector.
The banking practices of the bank were shady and in many parts illegal but its corporate structure and its active efforts shielded it from any lawsuits in the early days. Even in later days, it was very hard for regulators to bring BCCI to the book. However, many public outcry and ethical concerns raised by other parts of the banking industry made regulators in America and Britain take stock of the situation. Only after this, BCCI soon came under the scrutiny of numerous national and international …show more content…

For 15 years, it used two auditors - Price Waterhouse UK and Ernst & Young. Neither had the right to audit all companies of BCCI. They were also not independent. BCCI provided Price Waterhouse loans and other financial benefits in return of desired forged audit reports. Price Waterhouse were the accountants for BCCI Overseas (Grand Cayman Island), while Ernst & Young audited BCCI and BCCI Holdings (London and Luxembourg). Other companies such as KIFCO and ICIC were audited by neither. In October 1985, alarmed at reported BCCI losses on the commodities and financial markets, the Bank of England and the Institut Monétaire Luxembourgeois (Luxembourg's bank regulator) ordered BCCI to change to a single accountant. After which Price Waterhouse became the sole accountants in

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