Flush with cash, Lebanese banks raise eyebrows
Written by Najib

 

The past 16 months have been a real nail-biter for Lebanon’s banking sector. Since the US Treasury accused the Lebanese Canadian Bank (LCB) of laundering drug money for Hezbollah last February, local banks’ images have taken a beating in the international press, and Beirut’s ties to sanctioned regimes in Damascus and Tehran have been increasingly questioned. Most recently, a US-based group called United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) publically launched a campaign (which has been going on behind the scenes for months) to get Lebanon’s economy blacklisted. [NowLebanon]