Executives of BCCI Detained a Second Night in Abu Dhabi

Top executives of Bank of Credit & Commerce International were detained in Abu Dhabi for a second night amid signals that a restructuring of the bank was moving forward.

Banking executives in Abu Dhabi said the detained managers may have been seized for questioning by a six-member committee set up by the Al Nuhayan family to assess BCCI’s future.

Sheik Zayed ibn Sultan al Nuhayan, Abu Dhabi’s ruler, and his family own 77.4% of BCCI.

There was no official reason for Sunday’s detention of an estimated 20 top executives, including BCCI’s former Chief Executive Swaleh Naqvi. They were being held for a second night Tuesday at the bank’s Abu Dhabi headquarters.

“It’s not arrest; it’s protective custody,” said a spokesman for Abu Dhabi’s Criminal Investigation Department who declined to be identified. He didn’t state a reason for the detention.

The BCCI empire, with an estimated $20 billion in assets, was seized by international banking regulators July 5 following audits that alleged massive fraud and insider loans.

British courts have given BCCI’s receivers and majority shareholders a reprieve from liquidation until Dec. 2 to develop a plan to salvage the bank.

In London, Foreign Secretary Douglas Hurd said Monday that the government won’t block an acceptable plan to restructure BCCI.

Hurd said the Bank of England would have to approve any restructuring of BCCI.