الرئيسية
An employee serves a client at Lebanon's Central Bank in
Beirut in 2008. Lebanese banks have adopted strict measures to ensure
compliance with international sanctions against neighbouring Syria and
are closely scrutinising transactions by Syrian clients, banking
officials said Thursday.(AFP/File/Ramzi Haidar)
By Jocelyne Zablit, AFP
BEIRUT (AFP) - Lebanese banks have adopted strict measures to
ensure compliance with international sanctions against neighbouring
Syria and are closely scrutinising transactions by Syrian clients,
banking officials said Thursday.
"Banks are taking extremely
strong precautions to avoid bad surprises regarding people or
institutions under sanctions," said one official who works at one of
Lebanon's top banks. "No one wants to expose himself to pressure or
problems.
"Banks are running away from anything that has to do with Syria like it's a disease because the US is closely watching."
He requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue and banking secrecy laws.
He
told AFP that the precautions taken apply to transactions by
long-standing Syrian clients as well as new account applicants, many of
whom are being turned down.
The measures are in light of US,
European and Arab League sanctions slapped on the Syrian regime over its
fierce crackdown against an eight-month revolt that has left at least
3,500 people dead.
"All accounts held by Syrians are under
surveillance so that banks themselves don't end up facing punitive
measures," said an official at another top bank who also requested
anonymity.
"No transfers from accounts held by Syrian clients are
being made in dollars and other transactions need special approval,"
she added.
The US sanctions adopted last summer have forced Syria
to stop all transactions in US dollars, prompting the country to turn
to the euro.
Lebanese banking officials said it was clear that
many Syrians had taken their money out of the embattled country soon
after the revolt broke out mid-March.
According to figures by the
Association of Banks in Lebanon, in January the net outflow of deposits
totalled 1.1 billion dollars, largely because of the collapse of the
Lebanese government that month.
Comparatively, in March, when the
revolt in Syria broke out, there was an inflow of 1.34 billion dollars
and in April 1.8 billion dollars.
"There is a consensus in Lebanon that this was Syrian money," one of the officials said.
Economy
Minister Nicolas Nahas told AFP this week that Lebanon was committed to
implementing the Arab League sanctions and that Lebanese banks would
have no dealings with the Syrian central bank or any individuals
targeted by the sanctions.
"We are committed to implementing the
Arab League sanctions," Nahas said, pointing out that the Syrian
government in any case had no trade dealings with Lebanon.
Central Bank governor Riad Salameh for his part said Damascus has no funds deposited in the Lebanese central bank.
In
an unprecedented move, the pan-Arab bloc on Sunday approved a raft of
sanctions against Syria to pressure Damascus to end its deadly
crackdown.
The sanctions include freezing government assets,
suspending cooperation with Syria's central bank and halting funding for
projects in the country.
Lebanon, whose government is dominated
by the pro-Syrian Hezbollah movement, disassociated itself from the vote
at the Arab League.