The Lebanese Banking Association issued the following statement: "The General Assembly, which had announced a strike in its meeting on February 6, 2023, aimed at addressing the dysfunction in the judicial public facility, received with cautious optimism the two decisions issued by the Public Prosecution on February 28, 2023, hoping they will be complemented by practical measures to definitively address this dysfunction. Accordingly, the following was decided:
1. To reiterate the previous demands of the banks regarding:
- Unifying standards and applying the law equally for everyone, particularly by adopting a single rule for banks to pay depositors' funds on one hand and for debtors to settle their debts to the banks on the other hand, preserving the rights of depositors.
- Correcting the illegal and unjustified decisions taken against some banks and their executives, such as the seizure of private property and indefinite travel bans contrary to the spatial and qualitative jurisdiction of judges.
- Verifying the status of the depositor suing the bank.
- Adhering to the confidentiality of the investigations mandated by law.
2. Demanding the state to enforce the law upon which the banks operated in relation to the Central Bank of Lebanon, especially Article 113 of the Money and Credit Law, and to develop a practical plan to fulfill its legal obligations to cover the losses reflected in the balance sheet of the Central Bank of Lebanon, which can be clearly extracted for the first time from the suspended balance sheet dated February 28, 2023.
3. Demanding the state to acknowledge the debts owed to the Central Bank of Lebanon and to include in the aforementioned plan practical measures to begin addressing them.
4. Demanding the state to correct the recovery plan and its outcomes related to the projects for restoring balance to the financial sector and restructuring banks, in order to enable the Central Bank to develop a plan and timeline for returning the banks' deposits held with it, as confirmed by its recently published balance sheet, which forms the cornerstone of addressing customer deposits in banks.
5. Pending the above,
- The banks reiterate their demand for the Lebanese state to enact an expedited law that completely and retroactively abolishes banking secrecy on all bank accounts, thus putting an end to the fabricated accusations against it.
- The banks reiterate that they operate under the law and are accountable according to all provisions of Lebanese law, and express their respect for an impartial and just judiciary.
- They decide to extend the suspension of their strike until the evening of March 10, 2023, to facilitate the work of institutions and individuals and to reassess any developments regarding the implementation of their demands, with the Board of Directors authorized to extend the suspension period accordingly."
