Who got what from the bank of Credit and Commerce International

Deposits From Foreign Governments

A baseline for assessing BCCI's principal relationships with foreign governments is to review the deposits it received from Central Banks. At one level, the choice of BCCI as a depository for a Central Bank of a Third World country might seem logical. BCCI had marketed itself as the Third World bank, devoted to providing the best possible services to the Third World. However, every central banker also knew that BCCI, as a bank not based in any one country, had no lender of last resort, and no consolidated audit.

Thus, deposits in BCCI were potentially a very substantial risk for any Central Bank. If BCCI failed, the Central Bank funds would not be protected, but would be treated like the funds of any other depositor. Despite these obvious risks to placing funds with BCCI, dozens of countries placed their reserves with the bank, in some cases, at very substantial, and imprudent, levels.

BCCI document repositories in the United States, unfortunately only contain records pertaining to such deposits in BCCI-Miami, and thus, these represent only a fraction of the total. For example, a number the countries that had deposits at BCCI in the United States would also maintain deposits — usually larger ones — at BCCI in Panama, where they would be more protected from creditors.

Typical deposits at BCCI-Miami by central banks and governmental organizations, usually in certificates of deposit, are listed below:

Organization                Amount          Date

Andean Reserve Fund        $15,884,000      July  31, 1988

Central Bank of Aruba        6,000,000      July  31, 1988

Central Bank of Barbados     5,000,000      May   31, 1985

Central Bank of Belize      12,000,000      July  31, 1988

Central Bank of Bolivia     14,414,000      July  31, 1988

Banco de la Rep de Colombia  3,050,346      Aug    4, 1986

Central Bank of Curacao     25,000,000      July  31, 1988

Eastern Caribbean Bank       2,000,000      March 28, 1985

Caribbean Development Bank   3,025,786      June  28, 1985

Bank of China               15,000,000      Dec   31, 1985

Fed. Cafeterios Colombia    10,000,000      July  31, 1985

Banco de Guatemala           3,000,000      July  31, 1988

Bank of Jamaica             13,700,000      July  31, 1986

Jamaica Petroleum/PETROJAM   7,137,437      Jan   31, 1986

Banco Nacional de Panama     UNKNOWN        Dec   31, 1984

Central Bank of Paraguay     5,000,000      Oct   10, 1989

Central Bank of Suriname     UNKNOWN        Nov    3, 1986

Central Bank St. Kitt        8,500,000      July  31, 1988

Central Bank Trinidad        5,000,000      Oct   31, 1984

Venezuela Investment Fund   24,000,000      July  31, 1988

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