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The Lebanese parliament on Monday approved a law to lift bank secrecy for a year, in a move that could pave the way for a criminal audit of the central bank, a key condition for obtaining foreign aid.
This scrutiny has been included in the list of reforms demanded by donors to help Lebanon overcome its unprecedented financial crisis.
At the end of last November, the Lebanese Parliament issued a decision closer to recommending that the accounts of the Lebanese Central Bank, ministries, independent interests, councils, funds and public institutions be subjected to criminal scrutiny without invoking bank secrecy, in order to to reveal the identity of those responsible for wasting public money.
These reforms include measures to address corruption, which is one of the main causes of the financial crisis that led to the collapse of the local currency and the default of sovereign debt.
Some Lebanese officials accused the governor of the Lebanese Central Bank, Riad Salameh, of invoking bank secrecy laws to justify withholding information.
Salameh said last month that he was ready for a scrutiny, but that revealing local bank accounts required amending the law and he promised to turn over the state accounts.
While a number of proposals called for the lifting or complete abolition of bank secrecy, other MPs, including the Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Elie Ferzli, said that abolishing bank secrecy completely does great damage to the Lebanese banking sector and its reputation, especially as the judiciary already has the power to lift bank secrecy. For those accused of committing an economic crime.
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