a long way to go, there was hope that a solution could be found. The Secretary of State said he noted the delegation's parallel interest in the question of compensation for Gibraltar
depositors. He would ensure Mr Vaz's concerns were passed on to the appropriate authorities.
4. Mr Vaz thanked the Secretary of State for his comments. Did they mean that he wished the restructuring well? The Secretary of State said he did not want to create the
impression that Ministers were leaning on the bank. He had
chosen his earlier words carefully and could go no further.
5. In further discussion, members of Mr Vaz's delegation repeated that many people in Abu Dhabi had felt hurt by the
lack of consultation before the Bank of England's action on
5 July and that there was a lack of initiative on the part of
HMG to explain what was being done. This was why a Ministerial
visit would be useful. Reference was made to allegations of a
cover-up in the US Department of Justice concerning the BCCI
affair. One member of the delegation said he thought that the
public perception was that the Bank of England had adopted a
negative attitude towards restructuring, for example by
opposing the move to adjourn the formal liquidation of the
BCCI. Members of the delegation emphasised the difficulty some
BCCI staff were having obtaining alternative employment. It
was claimed that the reference by the Governor of the Bank of
England to the "criminal culture" of the BCCI caused particular
difficulty. Could this statement be retracted? The Secretary
of State said that it was not for him to comment on the US
Department of Justice. He said that he understood the reason
the Bank of England had opposed the adjournment of BCCI's
liquidation was to allow depositors to be compensated as soon
as possible under the Deposit Protection Fund. He confirmed
that there was a "passage of information" between the Bank of
England and the Government but it was clearly not for HMG to
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