From October 2000 until September 10, 2001, “a British banking compliance company had profiles on 15 of them [the 9/11 hijackers] in its files of high-risk people. Banking clients had access to the information, but the profiles evidently were never seen by U.S. agencies that might have spotted something in them to act on. …Swiss bankers facing risk of arrest for opening accounts to strangers with crime in mind pushed for a database to avoid getting into the private investigative business. Created to serve that need, Global Objectives’ Internet-based World-Check created a 53,000-name database since October 2000…Files cover politicians and other movers and shakers as well as convicts, fugitives and people associated with terrorism, drugs, war crimes, organized crime and fraud, [Global Objectives employee David] Leppan said. Hijackers in World-Check files on Sept. 11 were identified as people linked to Osama bin Laden, suspected terrorists or associates of terrorists, he said. …The hijackers’ bank files in most cases were complete with dates of birth, places of birth, aliases and associates.”
– Catherine Wilson, “Brit Banking Database Listed 15 of 19 Hijackers Before Attack,” Associated Press, Feb. 21, 2002