In the 1991 BCCI scandal, what did the acronym BCCI stand for?

BCCI stood for Bank of Credit and Commerce International, the global bank at the center of the 1991 scandal.

Founded in 1972 by Pakistani financier Agha Hasan Abedi, BCCI expanded rapidly through subsidiaries and branches in many countries. Investigators later alleged that the bank used concealed ownership structures, related-party transactions, and false accounting to hide major losses and control problems.

Regulators closed BCCI in July 1991 after authorities in Luxembourg and several other jurisdictions took action. The bank's collapse became one of the largest international banking scandals of its era, involving alleged money laundering, fraud, and political influence.

BCCI is sometimes confused with a central bank or a government institution because of its formal name. It was a privately owned commercial bank, not the central bank of any country. The acronym's final word was “International,” reflecting its cross-border structure rather than a specific national regulator.