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Lebanon’s banks cannot limit withdrawals, lawyers say

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Beirut: Banks in Lebanon could be flouting laws — or at least the spirit of it — by restricting the weekly amount a citizen can debit from his account. And account holders are well within their rights to pursue claims against such banks, legal sources say. “A big part of what banks have been doing are based on unauthorised and unilateral decisions,” said Zeina Mouanness, a lawyer. “They cannot apply such precautionary measures without clear regulations.” Last month, the Lebanese Central Bank set a limit of $1,000 as weekly withdrawals of cash and another limit on online transfers. ATMs have stopped dispensing US dollars even before the popular protests erupted in the country on October 17. Banks have been applying random caps on weekly cash withdrawals, varying between $100 to $500.

Reclaim their rights So, what can the ordinary Lebanese citizen do? They could look at any of three options. “They could launch a bankruptcy lawsuit against the banks for failing to pay them the amounts requested,” said Mouanness. “They could lodge a breach of trust [criminal case] against the bank. “The third type of legal procedure is lodging a lawsuit before a judge on an urgent basis demanding the bank pay their money in cash. As per the first two procedures, a claimant could also request the court to impose a provisional seizure against the bank’s assets to ensure that the claimants’ money remains safe and untouched.” According to Joceline Al-Rai, another Lebanese lawyer, people also need to read the contracts with their banks. “Clients and depositors have the right to take legal action against their banks and reclaim their money ... however, they need to review the clauses included in the contracts they signed upon opening their accounts. Unfortunately, the majority of clients sign those contracts blindly and without reading those clauses thoroughly,” Al-Rai told Gulf News.

France signs 22-mln-USD deal with Red Cross to support Lebanese hospital

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BEIRUT(Xinhua) -- The French Development Agency (AFD) signed on Thursday a financing agreement valued at 20 million euros (22.2 million U.S. dollars) with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to support Lebanon's Rafik Hariri University Hospital. French Ambassador to Lebanon Bruno Foucher, AFD Country Director for Lebanon and Syria Olivier Ray, and Christophe Martin, head of the ICRC delegation in Lebanon, attended the signing ceremony. This partnership was capable in the past to secure medical care for 13,000 patients of different nationalities in addition to implementing 26 projects to improve the healthcare at the hospital and working conditions of its employees. "Our partnership with the ICRC allows us to help the most vulnerable patients and at the same time develop the local institution which ensures our durability," said Firas Abiad, general manager of Rafik Hariri University Hospital.

Lebanese president to conduct parliamentary consultations to name new PM

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BEIRUT, (Xinhua) -- Lebanon's presidency issued a statement on Wednesday, announcing that President Michel Aoun will conduct parliamentary consultations on Dec. 9 to name a prime minister for the formation of the new government, the National News Agency reported. Officials belonging to different political parties announced in the past few days that businessman Samir Khatib has the biggest chance to assume the position of prime minister in Lebanon. Caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri announced on Tuesday his support for Khatib to be the next prime minister, prompting Lebanese to voice their anger by blocking roads in some regions including Beirut and Bekaa. The protesters, some of whom gathered outside Khatib's house in Beirut, accused Khatib, the executive vice president of engineering firm Khatib & Alami, of being involved in corruption related to government projects. Lebanon has witnessed nationwide protests since Oct. 17, leading to the resignation of Hariri's government. Protesters are calling for a complete change of the ruling political system which led to their impoverishment because of their failing policies over the past years.

Another Lebanese man commits suicide amid crisis

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By Dany Abu Haidar -- gulfnews.com -Beirut: A 40-year-old Lebanese man shot himself dead in Beirut after he was reported to have been sacked from work on Wednesday. Around 10.30am, Lebanese citizen, Dany Abu Haidar, shot himself in the head with a hunting gun at the family house in Al Nabaa area after his employer had reportedly terminated him.

Abu Haidar’s suicide is the second of its kind following Sunday’s first incident when heavily indebted villager, Naji Al Fulaiti, hung himself over a 700,000 Lebanese pound debt and after failing to give his daughter 1,000 Lebanese pounds to buy a flatbread in Arsal. “He returned home at 10.30am. His mother was hanging the laundry and wife was doing the rug. He got his hunting gun … when I asked him if he was going hunting, he said yes. In a second, he shot himself in his head,” the father said. Since October 17, Lebanon has been witnessing ongoing street demonstrations in nationwide protests against widespread political corruption and mismanagement that has been worsening the country’s economic and financial crises. A video of Abu Haydar’s mother went viral and in which she could be heard saying: “He left a family behind. Yesterday he was fine. The supermarket called and asked him to pay a pending Lebanese pounds LBP3m [around $2,000] he got angry and told them he cannot pay and to wait until the protests are over.”

Shaheen slams ‘illegal’ detention of Dover Lebanese-American

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By Kyle Stucker -- .seacoastonline.com -- WASHINGTON -- Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., decried Lebanon’s ongoing detention of Dover restaurant owner Amer Fakhoury Wednesday, calling the three-month detention both “illegal” and suggesting his treatment could constitute a human rights violation. Shaheen made the comments during a U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations hearing that involved Lebanon and Iraq. “I think this is a very serious situation that has not been taken seriously by officials of the Lebanese government and they need to be on notice that we are looking very carefully and very closely at what they are doing,” said Shaheen. Going further, Shaheen outlined her office is working with government departments to do “everything we can” to ensure the Lebanese-American is returned home safely.

Lebanese newspaper Al Akhbar and other Middle Eastern outlets have described Fakhoury, 57, the owner of Little Lebanon To Go in downtown Dover, as the “butcher of Khiam.” The reports have alleged Fakhoury tortured inmates and committed other human rights violations while working as a senior warden at Khiam Prison in southern Lebanon in the 1980s and ’90s. Fakhoury’s family and his attorney, Celine Atallah, have denied the claims. Lebanese officials detained Fakhoury, on Sept. 12, eight days after he and his wife, Michelle, arrived in Lebanon for a vacation and to visit family there for the first time in nearly two decades. Amer and Michelle Fakhoury planned a temporary closure of Little Lebanon To Go while they visited Lebanon and other countries on their vacation. The restaurant remains closed. Shaheen said Wednesday that Fakhoury is currently in “very critical” health due to mistreatment, rib fractures, various infections, a 40-pound weight loss and an aggressive form of lymphoma that has developed since he’s been detained “without charge” or due process. Shaheen entered a two-page document into the Senate record Wednesday that she said “clearly indicate(s) that (Fakhoury) is not the individual that the Lebanese and Hezbollah-linked papers allege him to be.”

Lebanese army separates rival protests near president palace

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Lebanese army separates rival protests near president palace

by AP -- Lebanon's armed forces have deployed near the presidential palace east of Beirut to prevent friction between rival Lebanese protesters as the stalemate over forming a crisis government continues. Anti-government protesters had called for a rally Sunday outside the Presidential Palace in Baabda to press President Michel Aoun to formally begin the process of forming a new government. Prime Minister Saad Hariri resigned over a month ago amid nationwide protests accusing the political elite of corruption and mismanagement of the economy. The call prompted a counter-rally by supporters of Aoun who called him a "red line." Army soldiers formed a human chain to separate the groups on a highway leading to the palace, preventing clashes. Meanwhile, hundreds of anti-government protesters marched toward central Beirut amid a deepening economic crisis. Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Lebanon Central Bank to Reduce Interest Rates to Ease Crisis

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Lebanese anti-government protesters shout slogans outside the headquarters of the Central Bank in Beirut on Nov. 28.

by bloomberg.com -- Dana Khraiche -- Lebanon’s central bank plans to slash interest rates in an attempt to ease the country’s economic crisis and is considering formalizing temporary capital controls set individually by local lenders. Governor Riad Salameh told the Association of Banks in Lebanon that he will issue a circular within days to lower rates “to revive the economy” and limit the increase in “doubtful” loans, according to a document summarizing the meeting and seen by Bloomberg. The decision may buy much-needed time for Lebanon, which is reeling under its worst financial crisis in decades while authorities struggle to form a government after the resignation of Prime Minister Saad Hariri following weeks of mass protests against corruption and deteriorating living standards.

Salameh said he was considering issuing instructions that would formalize recent restrictions on capital movements imposed by commercial lenders, according to the document. The measures would be temporary until a government is formed and the financial and economic situation returns to normal, the document stipulated. The governor also said that 165 billion Lebanese pounds ($109.2 million) had been withdrawn per day from the central bank in the last two months, and that the bank is waiting for a new batch of pound banknotes to arrive on Dec. 20.

Debt Risk

President Michel Aoun convened a meeting last week that brought together Salameh, the finance minister, the economy minister and the head of the Association of Banks. They tasked the governor with taking “temporary and necessary” steps to protect the stability of the banking system. The crisis has undermined confidence in Lebanon’s ability to repay its vast public debt. The country’s debt risk, measured by credit default swaps, has surged to more than 2,500 basis points, the second-highest after Argentina, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.