Association of Banks and Manufactured News … and Hezbollah funds

Calamities do not come individually. This is the case of the banking sector, which made some of these calamities and was the victim of others.
Today, the reputation of Lebanon’s banks is even more distorted than the reputation of this troubled country. A bad image of Lebanese banks has taken hold due to the sanctions that affected some of them or the permanent accusations that link the banking sector with Hezbollah’s financial activities.

In this context, the Association of Banks issued the following statement:
In recent days, Arab media reported that foreign organizations with suspicious and unfair targets reported that the Lebanese banking sector in general, and several Lebanese banks in particular, constitute a channel for money laundering by Hezbollah. It is important that the Banking Association emphasizes that this news is completely fabricated and lacks any basis of validity and credibility. Lebanese banks adhere to all the rules of compliance, transparency and anti-money laundering in force in Lebanon and abroad, with the recognition and mention of international and regional references in this field, and are also subject to obligations of international, American and European sanctions related to such illicit activities. On this occasion, we reiterate the continuity of the affiliation of our sector to the global banking system and the application of its business rules.

The association believes that the persistence of illegally embracing such misleading and reputation-distorting accusations of the Lebanese banking sector serves the interests of forces hostile to Lebanon and its people, for well-known political purposes at a stage of hidden conflicts and open about influence and wealth in this region of the world. The Association, while saluting and highly appreciating the efforts made by the international community, especially friendly and brotherly countries, to help Lebanon recover from its current recession and its current ordeal, with its financial, economic and social triangular dimensions , can only renew its expression of appreciation to the Lebanese media. Arabic, as well as for social networks, and urge the latter to further verify the veracity of the news circulating about Lebanon, so as not to further harm our afflicted country, and to commit to accuracy and objectivity in news coverage , positions and activities of the Lebanese banking sector, which today received with great regret The news of Dr. Mustafa Adeeb’s apology for forming a new government is intense, which makes the Lebanese situation more difficult and complex.