WASHINGTON - House Banking Committee chairman Henry B. Gonzalez has scheduled a hearing for next Thursday to review a request for immunity by a key figure in the Bank of Credit and Commerce International scandal.
Sheikh Zayed, the emir of Abud Dhabi, was the principal shareholder in BCCI. Shareholders of First American Bankshares, which BCCI sercretly controlled, lost their investment after the bank collapsed and want to name him in a lawsuit.
The emir responded by seeking "head of state" immunity from the U.S. Department of State. The State Department is currently considering that request.
Officials Invited to Testify
Rep. Gonzalez, who has conducted a number or hearings into the BCCI failure, has invited representatives from the State Department, the Justice Department, the Federal Reserve, and the New York District Attorney's Office to testify, along with lawyers for BCCI and the First American banks.
The three First American banks - one each in Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia - were sold in March to First Union Corp., Charlotte, N.C.
BCCI was ordered closed in July 1991. Authorities said the bank was a criminal enterprise involved in massive fraud and used by dealers in drugs and arms.
DALLAS - A firm here has developed the first system that would help banks comply with the newly proposed wire transfer rules.
Atchley Systems Inc., a Dallas-based compliance software company in October unveiled Comply/Wire, a wire transfer record-keeping system.
The software, which costs $25,000, allows banks to tap into their existing wire transfer facility and pick up electronic records - whether the bank is the sender, intermediary, or receiver of the funds transfer.
The records are available on-line for a time, and then are archived, allowing access to the records for up to five years, as the new rules would require.
While the wire rules still are not final, they are not expected to change drastically before their Jan. 1 effectively date.
Mr. Atchley said the company would alter clients' software to reflect any changes.
