Lebanese parliamentarians pass second attempt at new banking secrecy law
The International Monetary Fund has noted a significant flaws in a prior draft of the financial secrecy bill, which the Lebanese Parliament approved yesterday.
Before Lebanon can access $3 billion to ease its severe economic crisis—one of the worst in modern history—the IMF has outlined a list of reforms that must be carried out, including changing its banking secrecy law.
Late in July, the IMF recommended a number of changes, and Lebanese President Michel Aoun sent the amended banking secrecy law back to parliament for those modifications.
According to reports, the most recent draft was passed by lawmakers yesterday, but it received harsh criticism from independent MPs and other observers because the IMF’s suggested changes were still not included.
The most recent proposal nevertheless leaves banking secrecy in place overall. The revised draft permits additional government institutions to request general information on a body of transactions, whereas the prior draft only permitted some government bodies to obtain it in the case of criminal investigations.
According to Attorney and Chairman of the Commission for Depositors of the Beirut Bar Association Karim Daher, the revised proposal won’t offer the necessary openness.
