Agha Hasan Abedi
Encyclopedia
Lucknow
Lucknow is the capital city of Uttar Pradesh in India. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of Lucknow District and Lucknow Division....
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
– August 5, 1995, Karachi
Karachi
Karachi is the largest city, main seaport and the main financial centre of Pakistan, as well as the capital of the province of Sindh. The city has an estimated population of 13 to 15 million, while the total metropolitan area has a population of over 18 million...
, Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
) was a banker and philanthropist
Philanthropist
A philanthropist is someone who engages in philanthropy; that is, someone who donates his or her time, money, and/or reputation to charitable causes...
who founded the Bank of Credit and Commerce International
Bank of Credit and Commerce International
The Bank of Credit and Commerce International was a major international bank founded in 1972 by Agha Hasan Abedi, a Pakistani financier. The Bank was registered in Luxembourg with head offices in Karachi and London. Within a decade BCCI touched its peak...
(BCCI) in 1972. BCCI was at one point the seventh largest private bank
Private bank
Private banks are banks that are not incorporated. A private bank is owned by either an individual or a general partner with limited partner...
in the world, but it collapsed in 1991 after regulators in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
found it was involved in many illegal and fraudulent activities. Mr. Abedi underwent a heart transplant operation in 1988, and died of a heart attack later on August 5, 1995 in Karachi.
Early banking career
Agha Hasan Abedi was born in Lucknow, IndiaIndia
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
and migrated to Pakistan after the partition of India
Partition of India
The Partition of India was the partition of British India on the basis of religious demographics that led to the creation of the sovereign states of the Dominion of Pakistan and the Union of India on 14 and 15...
, in 1947. Beginning his career with Habib Bank before independence, he brought about significant changes in Pakistan's banking culture when he founded the United Bank Ltd (UBL) in 1959. Starting as its first general manager, he quickly rose to the position of president and chairman of the board of directors
Board of directors
A board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. Other names include board of governors, board of managers, board of regents, board of trustees, and board of visitors...
. Under his stewardship, UBL became the second largest bank in Pakistan. Mr Abedi introduced a host of professional innovations, including the concept of personalised service and banking support to trade and industry, paying particular attention to the bank's overseas operations. One of the first to comprehend the opportunities offered by the oil boom in the Persian Gulf
Persian Gulf
The Persian Gulf, in Southwest Asia, is an extension of the Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.The Persian Gulf was the focus of the 1980–1988 Iran-Iraq War, in which each side attacked the other's oil tankers...
, Mr Abedi pioneered close economic collaboration in the private sector between Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates
United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates, abbreviated as the UAE, or shortened to "the Emirates", is a state situated in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia on the Persian Gulf, bordering Oman, and Saudi Arabia, and sharing sea borders with Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and Iran.The UAE is a...
(UAE). The UAE President, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, extended his patronage to UBL operations both in Pakistan and abroad.
BCCI years
When banking was nationalised in Pakistan in 1972, Mr Abedi founded the Bank of Credit and Commerce International with the Bank of AmericaBank of America
Bank of America Corporation, an American multinational banking and financial services corporation, is the second largest bank holding company in the United States by assets, and the fourth largest bank in the U.S. by market capitalization. The bank is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina...
NT & SA as a major shareholder
Shareholder
A shareholder or stockholder is an individual or institution that legally owns one or more shares of stock in a public or private corporation. Shareholders own the stock, but not the corporation itself ....
. Registered in Luxembourg
Luxembourg
Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...
, the BCCI began its operations from a two-room head office in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. Over the years, it developed into a worldwide banking operation with branches in 72 countries and 16,000 employees on its payroll. Mr Abedi was personally responsible for inducting a large number of Pakistanis into the field of international banking and almost 80 per cent of the BCCI's top executive positions at the head office and in branches in various countries were held by Pakistanis. Mr Abedi's brother, Dr Agha Fakhar Hussain took control over the BCCI operations and expanded variously in the west as Mr Abedis health declined. Mr Abedi severed his connection with BCCI in 1990 after suffering a heart attack
Myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
and lead a retired life in Karachi until his death of heart failure
Congestive heart failure
Heart failure often called congestive heart failure is generally defined as the inability of the heart to supply sufficient blood flow to meet the needs of the body. Heart failure can cause a number of symptoms including shortness of breath, leg swelling, and exercise intolerance. The condition...
at Karachi's Aga Khan
Aga Khan
Aga Khan is the hereditary title of the Imam of the largest branch of the Ismā'īlī followers of the Shī‘a faith. They affirm the Imamat of the descendants of Ismail ibn Jafar, eldest son of Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq, while the larger Twelver branch of Shi`ism follows Ismail's younger brother Musa...
hospital in 1995.
Unlike regular banks, the BCCI was from its inception made up of multiplying layers of interwoven entities – which related to one another through a near impenetrable series of holding companies
Holding company
A holding company is a company or firm that owns other companies' outstanding stock. It usually refers to a company which does not produce goods or services itself; rather, its purpose is to own shares of other companies. Holding companies allow the reduction of risk for the owners and can allow...
, affiliates, subsidiaries, banks-within-banks, insider dealings and nominee relationships. BCCI's fractured corporate structure, record keeping, regulatory review, and audits, allowed the complex BCCI family of entities created by Abedi to evade ordinary legal restrictions on the movement of capital and goods. In creating BCCI as a vehicle essentially free of government control, Abedi's BCCI became the ideal mechanism for facilitating illegal activity by others, including such activity by officials of many of the governments whose laws BCCI was breaking
Extradition
Extradition is the official process whereby one nation or state surrenders a suspected or convicted criminal to another nation or state. Between nation states, extradition is regulated by treaties...
, claiming the charges were politically motivated. Even without this to consider, it is likely he would have been too sick to stand trial; he had been in poor health since suffering a stroke in the mid-1980s.
Philanthropist
INFAQ FoundationMr Abedi founded charitable organizations in UK, India, Bangladesh, Zimbabwe and Pakistan. A large proportion of the profit made by BCCI was donated to these foundations, every year as Mr. Abedi believed that the main objective of a person should be to help others. In Pakistan, the BCCI Foundation (renamed Infaq Foundation after the closure of BCCI), provides funding to charitable projects like hospitals, schools for special children, other educational institutions and social welfare organizations. It also provide scholarships, mainly for university education, to poor but brilliant students. It helps widow and other indigent persons in large number. As many performing artists earn very little in the Third world, INFAQ Foundation provides financial help and assistance to writers, scholars, artists and poets.It encourages them to teach their art to others so that these arts survive.
The Infaq Foundation has only one office in Karachi, Pakistan. It has Capital and Reserves of over Rs.2.50 billion, which in 2009 are equivalent to just over US$30 million. Major beneficiaries among the known institutions are, Sind Institute of Urology and Transplantation, National Institute of Cardio Vascular Diseases – Karachi, GIK Institute of Engineering Sciences & Technology, Topi
Topi
The Tsessebe , is one of five subspecies in the binomial class D. lunatus. The other subspecies include Korrigum , Tiang , Coastal Topi , and Topi . Tesessebe are found primarily in Zambia, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, and South Africa...
, North-West Frontier Province
North-West Frontier Province
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa , formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province and various other names, is one of the four provinces of Pakistan, located in the north-west of the country...
, Lady Duffirin Hospital and Sir Syed University of Engineering and Technology
Sir Syed University of Engineering and Technology
Sir Syed University of Engineering and Technology, or SSUET, is a private sector engineering university located in Karachi, Pakistan. It was named after the 19th-century Muslim education reformer Sir Syed Ahmad Khan. Sir Syed University of Engineering and Technology was founded by the current...
, Karachi. President Ghulam Ishaq Khan
Ghulam Ishaq Khan
Ghulam Ishaq Khan , abbreviated as GIK, was the seventh President of Pakistan from August 17, 1988 until July 18, 1993 and a career statesman from the start to the end of cold war...
was the first Chairman of the Foundation from 1983 through 1995. Another eminent personality, a supreme court judge and a former Governor of Sindh – Justice Fakhruddin G. Ebrahim
Fakhruddin G. Ebrahim
The Honourable Justice Fakhruddin G. Ebrahim , TI, is a retired Pakistani Associate Judge of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, and Senior Advocate Supreme Court, and peace activist. Ebrahim also served as the interim Law Minister from 18 July 1993 till 19 October 1993, and interim Justice Minister 5...
took over and is now the Chairman.
The Foundation has always been managed by highly competent Chief Executives. From 1981 to 1999 retired federal secretaries were Secretaries General of the Foundation. From 1999 to 2008 the position was held by Mr. Sohail Kizilbash, a Chartered Accountant qualified in UK and a person with long banking experience. From 2009 another Chartered Accountant and former banker Mr. Anwar Gillani is the Honorary Secretary General.
National University of Computer and Emerging Sciences
The National University of Computer and Emerging Sciences is a university in Pakistan with headquarters at Islamabad and campuses at Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad and Peshawar...
in 1980 with a donation of Rs. 100 million, to promote education in computer science. It is now the first multicampus university of Pakistan, known as National University of Computer and Emerging Sciences
National University of Computer and Emerging Sciences
The National University of Computer and Emerging Sciences is a university in Pakistan with headquarters at Islamabad and campuses at Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad and Peshawar...
. It has four campuses situated in Islamabad
Islamabad
Islamabad is the capital of Pakistan and the tenth largest city in the country. Located within the Islamabad Capital Territory , the population of the city has grown from 100,000 in 1951 to 1.7 million in 2011...
, Peshawar
Peshawar
Peshawar is the capital of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and the administrative center and central economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan....
, Karachi
Karachi
Karachi is the largest city, main seaport and the main financial centre of Pakistan, as well as the capital of the province of Sindh. The city has an estimated population of 13 to 15 million, while the total metropolitan area has a population of over 18 million...
and Lahore
Lahore
Lahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in the country. With a rich and fabulous history dating back to over a thousand years ago, Lahore is no doubt Pakistan's cultural capital. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, Lahore remains a...
.
Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology
Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology
-See also:* List of universities in Pakistan* GIKI clock tower* Project topi-External links:* * * * *...
was also the brainchild of Mr. Abedi. He felt that Pakistan should have another university for higher education, at Ph.D. level, for engineering and sciences and it should be comparable to universities in any developed country.
Abidi and Orangi Pilot Project
"In 1980, Akhtar Hameed KhanAkhtar Hameed Khan
Akhtar Hameed Khan was a Pakistani development activist and social scientist credited for pioneering microcredit and microfinance initiatives, farmers' cooperatives, and rural training programmes in the developing world. He promoted participatory rural development in Pakistan and other developing...
moved to Karachi where Agha Hassan Abidi, President of the BCCI Foundation and a renowned banker, asked him to use his expertise and knowledge to improve sanitation and employment in Karachi, Pakistan (LT 2000, 4). Dr. Khan immediately agreed, but under the condition that he would be able to do things his own way without any interference from Abidi or anyone else. Abidi agreed to this, and work was begun on what would become one of the most renowned projects in the world: The Orangi Pilot Project
Orangi Pilot Project
The Orangi Pilot Project refers to a socially innovative project carried out in 1980s in the squatter areas of Orangi Town, Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. It was initiated by Akhtar Hameed Khan, and involved the local residents solving their own sanitation problems...
(OPP). Thus, in 1980, the Orangi Pilot Project was started and Dr. Khan remained associated with it until his death in 1999.
Trivia
- Agha Hasan Abedi Auditorium at GIK Institute, Pakistan, was named after him.
- The Gold Medal at the National University of Computer and Emerging SciencesNational University of Computer and Emerging SciencesThe National University of Computer and Emerging Sciences is a university in Pakistan with headquarters at Islamabad and campuses at Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad and Peshawar...
(FAST), awarded to the highest CGPA Holder of the batch, is known as the Agha Hasan Abedi Gold Medal. - His London home was in the London outskirts, in the affluent Harrow on the Hill, and was previously owned by Anthony TrollopeAnthony TrollopeAnthony Trollope was one of the most successful, prolific and respected English novelists of the Victorian era. Some of his best-loved works, collectively known as the Chronicles of Barsetshire, revolve around the imaginary county of Barsetshire...
- In the words of former BCCI Chief Financial OfficerChief financial officerThe chief financial officer or Chief financial and operating officer is a corporate officer primarily responsible for managing the financial risks of the corporation. This officer is also responsible for financial planning and record-keeping, as well as financial reporting to higher management...
Masih ur Rahman, who worked alongside Abedi for nearly three decades, his sister had once commented that "I remember looking into his eyes and seeing God and the Devil balanced equally in them." Agha hasan abedi.
External links
Biographical- Agha Hasan Abedi, Salaam
- Agha Hasan Abedi passes away, Dawn wire service
About BCCI
- The BCCI Affair, Federation of American Scientists (www.fas.org)
Misc
- About Foundation for Advancement of Science and Technology (FAST), National University
- Genesis, GIK Institute