Lebanon passes banking secrecy law

Lebanon’s parliament on Thursday passed a new banking secrecy law allowing authorised entities to access records from the last decade, a long-awaited measure demanded by the International Monetary Fund to set the country’s shattered economy on track.

It is parliament’s third attempt at amending banking secrecy regulations in Lebanon, after previous versions were considered by the IMF as insufficient, partly because they did not grant enough government bodies access to banking data.

The law passed on Thursday grants entities including independent auditors access to banking records going back 10 years, two members of parliament confirmed to Reuters.

It is expected to help in the fight against corruption and to remove impediments to a wider restructuring of the banking sector.

Lebanon’s national news agency said the law passed with 87 votes in the 128-seat parliament.

Lebanon’s economy began unravelling in 2019 after years of corruption and profligate spending by the country’s ruling elite.

The financial crash impoverished many Lebanese, leaving them without access to their deposits in commercial banks.

Lebanon has been in talks with the IMF since 2022 on a funding programme but failed for years to carry out the required reforms to access the funds.

A new government in power since earlier this year has promised to prioritise those reforms and seek a new IMF programme.

The law passed as a Lebanese delegation, including finance minister Yassine Jaber, attends the annual IMF-World Bank Spring Meeting in Washington, DC.

Jaber said on Tuesday he hoped the banking secrecy law would pass quickly as it would “push” forward ongoing talks in Washington.

Lebanon is still expected to pass legislation on bank restructuring and on the financial gap.

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