BCCI's founder, Agha Hasan Abedi, started the bank in Pakistan in 1972. Abedi had previously set up the United Bank of Pakistan in 1959. Following the nationalization of United Bank in 1971 he sought to create a new supranational banking entity. BCCI was created with capital from Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, emir of Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, Bank of America (25%) and, allegedly, the CIA[6]. It is claimed that the CIA were seeking a funding route for the Afghan Mujahideen, similar to the Investors Overseas Service and the Nugan Hand Bank in the 1970s[citation needed]. However, the vast majority of BCCI's assets were initially from Abu Dhabi.

The Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI) was a major international bank founded in London, United Kingdom in 1972 by Agha Hasan Abedi, a leading Pakistani financier. The company was registered in Luxembourg. At its peak, it operated in 78 countries, had over 400 branches, and had assets in excess of US$ 20 billion making it the 7th largest bank in the world by assets.[1][2]
BCCI became the focus in 1991 of the world's worst financial scandal and what was called a "$20-billion-plus heist".[3] It was found by regulators in the United States and the United Kingdom to be involved in money laundering