The Depositors' Cry Association and the Depositors' Solidarity Association held a meeting today, Monday, with the acting Governor of the Central Bank of Lebanon, Wassim Mansouri. The delegation from the Depositors' Cry Association included the association's president, Alaa Khourchid, and Moussa Aghasi, while the Depositors' Solidarity Association was represented by Said Zouaid and Samar Bustani, an international anti-money laundering specialist.
A thorough discussion took place regarding Law No. 44 and the powers of the Head of the Special Investigation Commission. Samar Bustani emphasized the need for the governor to implement Article 9 of Law No. 44 and leverage the powers granted to him to protect the rights of depositors and assist them in recovering their funds. He also called for tracking the funds that have been smuggled abroad through international organizations, particularly the financial intelligence units around the world, which number 185.
Said Zouaid stressed the importance of preventing banks from closing depositors' accounts and providing them with checks for their deposits at notaries. He demanded that banks be obligated to reopen accounts that had been closed. The Governor promised to meet this request through a forthcoming meeting between the Depositors' Cry Association, the Depositors' Solidarity Association, and members of the Banking Control Commission to discuss all details.
The Governor explained that "the price of 15,000 Lebanese pounds was set in the 2020 budget. Since the exchange rate can only be adjusted by law, the new budget law project will mention an exchange rate of about 90,000 pounds. Upon the approval of the new budget law, depositors will be able to withdraw at the same rate mentioned in the budget, which is approximately 90,000, thereby automatically canceling the 15,000 rate."
He added: "We requested to raise the withdrawal ceiling on circular 158, and the response from the governor was that this request cannot be fulfilled at present for many reasons he explained. He promised to study this matter to raise it to around 1,000 dollars in the future, and accordingly, he will ask the Parliament to restructure the banks so that he can address this issue and set a withdrawal ceiling based on that."
Regarding deposits after October 17, 2019, the Governor stated that there needs to be a verification of all these deposits. Those who transferred their deposits from one account to another should receive their rights, while those who traded checks will not receive their full deposits like the other principal depositors. The Governor confirmed that the amount of reserves at the Banque du Liban will not be affected.
