<\/p>\nLebanon’s Parliament last month partly lifted banking secrecy laws in a rare move to encourage transparency and revive the nation\u2019s scattered economy.<\/p>\n
<\/span><\/p>\n
Since the 2019 financial collapse that brought the war-torn country to its knees, banking sector reform has been a prerequisite for obtaining help from multilateral lending institutions. The new law allows entities, including independent auditors, to directly access banking records from the past decade.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe banking secrecy bill is a tool,\u201d comments Sibylle Rizk, director of public policies at Kulluna Irada, a Beirut-based think tank. \u201cNow it needs to be used: whether by banking authorities for restructuring the sector, by the judiciary, or by the tax administration.\u201d<\/p>\n
Since the 2019 crash, the local currency has dropped 98% in value and most Lebanese cannot access their deposits. Bank losses are estimated at $76 billion, raising the critical question: Who will pay?<\/p>\n
Producing an answer that satisfies a multitude of parties now falls partly on Karim Souaid, governor of Banque du Liban since March. Souaid\u2019s nomination was controversial, having allegedly been urged by the banks\u2019 lobby.<\/p>\n
On his first day in office, he emphasized the need to \u201cgradually return all bank deposits, starting with small savers.\u201d<\/p>\n
But the new governor\u2019s immediate priority must be \u201cto launch banking audits to get an accurate picture of assets and liabilities,\u201d says Rizk. \u201cHe also needs to work on a gap resolution framework based on a fair distribution of losses that considers public debt sustainability.\u201d Legal frameworks on bank resolution and loss allocation must be approved by Parliament.<\/p>\n
None of these reforms will be easy, she adds, but they are key to unlocking negotiations with the International Monetary Fund, reestablishing the banking sector\u2019s ability to fund economic activity, and taming the cash economy, which has dominated since 2020. Last October, the watchdog Financial Action Task Force (FATF) placed Lebanon on its gray list for money laundering and terrorism financing.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Lebanese banking sector must reconnect with the international financial system, rebuild relationships with correspondent banks, regain access to global capital markets, and re-establish credibility,\u201d says Wissam Fattouh, secretary of the Beirut-based Union of Arab Banks.<\/p>\n
But to restore their reputation and ensure solvency, Lebanese banks will need new partners. Existing shareholders may increase stakes, but regional and international banks must step in as well.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Lebanon’s Parliament last month partly lifted banking secrecy laws in a rare move to encourage transparency and revive the nation\u2019s scattered economy. Since the 2019 financial collapse that brought the war-torn country to its knees, banking sector reform has been a prerequisite for obtaining help from multilateral lending institutions. The new law allows entities, including […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":247279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[93],"tags":[14341,14043,13460],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-247278","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-finance","tag-lebanon","tag-path","tag-reform"],"yoast_head":"\n
Lebanon On The Path To Reform - Som2ny Network<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=247278\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Lebanon On The Path To Reform - Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Lebanon’s Parliament last month partly lifted banking secrecy laws in a rare move to encourage transparency and revive the nation\u2019s scattered economy. Since the 2019 financial collapse that brought the war-torn country to its knees, banking sector reform has been a prerequisite for obtaining help from multilateral lending institutions. The new law allows entities, including […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=247278\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-05-19T12:38:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/shutterstock_2329547437-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1707\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=247278#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=247278\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371\"},\"headline\":\"Lebanon On The Path To Reform\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-05-19T12:38:27+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=247278\"},\"wordCount\":388,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=247278#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/shutterstock_2329547437-scaled.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Lebanon\",\"Path\",\"Reform\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Finance\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=247278#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=247278\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=247278\",\"name\":\"Lebanon On The Path To Reform - Som2ny Network\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=247278#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=247278#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/shutterstock_2329547437-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-05-19T12:38:27+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=247278#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=247278\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=247278#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/shutterstock_2329547437-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/shutterstock_2329547437-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1707},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=247278#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?bp_activities=1\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Lebanon On The Path To Reform\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/\",\"name\":\"Som2ny Network\",\"description\":\"Daily Deals\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Som2ny Network\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png\",\"width\":300,\"height\":86,\"caption\":\"Som2ny Network\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Lebanon On The Path To Reform - Som2ny Network","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=247278","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Lebanon On The Path To Reform - Som2ny Network","og_description":"Lebanon’s Parliament last month partly lifted banking secrecy laws in a rare move to encourage transparency and revive the nation\u2019s scattered economy. Since the 2019 financial collapse that brought the war-torn country to its knees, banking sector reform has been a prerequisite for obtaining help from multilateral lending institutions. The new law allows entities, including […]","og_url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=247278","og_site_name":"Som2ny Network","article_published_time":"2025-05-19T12:38:27+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":1707,"url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/shutterstock_2329547437-scaled.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=247278#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=247278"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371"},"headline":"Lebanon On The Path To Reform","datePublished":"2025-05-19T12:38:27+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=247278"},"wordCount":388,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=247278#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/shutterstock_2329547437-scaled.jpg","keywords":["Lebanon","Path","Reform"],"articleSection":["Finance"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=247278#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=247278","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=247278","name":"Lebanon On The Path To Reform - Som2ny Network","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=247278#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=247278#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/shutterstock_2329547437-scaled.jpg","datePublished":"2025-05-19T12:38:27+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=247278#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=247278"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=247278#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/shutterstock_2329547437-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/shutterstock_2329547437-scaled.jpg","width":2560,"height":1707},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=247278#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?bp_activities=1"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Lebanon On The Path To Reform"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/","name":"Som2ny Network","description":"Daily Deals","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization","name":"Som2ny Network","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png","width":300,"height":86,"caption":"Som2ny Network"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/fivemor.com"],"url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247278","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=247278"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247278\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/247279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=247278"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=247278"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=247278"},{"taxonomy":"dealstore","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fdealstore&post=247278"},{"taxonomy":"offerexpiration","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fofferexpiration&post=247278"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}