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- Depositors’ group condemns banks’ threat to shut completely in bid to ‘twist arm of judiciary’
BEIRUT: An expert in the banking sector on Monday ruled out the possibility of banks completely closing and stopping their ATM services, as such a step might backfire.
The Association of Banks is expected to make a decision on Wednesday regarding ATM services, beginning Thursday.
The Lebanese pound, meanwhile, dropped to a record low, trading at 68,000 LBP per USD on the black market by Monday afternoon.
Fadi Khalaf, secretary-general of the Association of Banks, said: “Bank administrations are committed to protecting the interests of depositors and citizens at this delicate stage.
“Banks insist on taking all necessary measures to prevent abuses that harm the depositor and the economy.”
Khalaf stressed that banks were relying on an impartial judiciary to resolve the crisis.
Khalaf’s comments came as Mount Lebanon Public Prosecutor Judge Ghada Aoun decided on Monday to prosecute Bank Audi, Bank Audi Group CEO Samir Hanna, and Deputy Group CEO Tamer Ghazaleh on charges of money laundering.
Aoun referred the case to Nicolas Mansour, the first investigating judge in the Mount Lebanon Court of Appeal, requesting an investigation and the issuance of the necessary arrest warrants.
The People Want to Reform the System association announced that Aoun’s step stems from the many complaints filed against banks in Lebanon.
Aoun is one of Lebanon’s most controversial judges and is believed to be associated with the Free Patriotic Movement.
The Depositors’ Association said that the banks’ threat to shut down completely aims at twisting the arm of the judiciary and pushing for the adoption of a biased capital control bill, without integrated laws to restructure the banking sector and distribute losses in a way that protects depositors.
The association criticized the MPs who want to participate in a legislative session to pass the capital control bill.
The developments come as the local and international judicial stranglehold tightens on banks, bankers, the central bank governor and their henchmen in power on charges of money laundering, embezzlement of public funds, withholding deposits, and writing off bank losses at the expense of depositors.
The Depositors’ Association has warned banks against closing, threatening to prosecute them on charges of disrupting a public utility, endangering the remaining financial stability and social security, and insulting the prestige of the judiciary.
The association has earlier filed hundreds of lawsuits against banks and bankers in Lebanon and abroad.
The association stressed: “Depositors have the right, in the event of ongoing closure, to go to the homes of bank chairmen to collect their rights.”
The General Confederation of Lebanese Workers said: “If banks go on strike, they would be purposely humiliating citizens even more, especially the depositors, be (they) civilians, military personnel, (or) retirees.”
The Association of Banks, with its partners in the central bank and other influential financial forces, have all benefited from the crisis, according to the confederation.
The confederation warned that the banks’ intention to stop filling ATMs targets most Lebanese people, including small depositors, workers, employees, and ordinary citizens who live without an authoritarian umbrella to protect them.
The threat of complete closure seems eerily similar to the beginning of the economic collapse after Oct. 17, 2019, when banks closed, and people have since been unable then to withdraw their deposits.
Today, there is a concern that complete closure will lead to people losing access to their salaries and money their relatives send them from abroad.
In a separate development, 46 opposition and reformist MPs have rejected calls to hold a legislative session to pass the capital control bill.
The MPs claimed that such a session would be a violation of the constitution since parliament’s only mission now is to elect a president.
This pressure has succeeded in prompting the parliament’s bureau to postpone the legislative session scheduled for Thursday and reconvene next Monday to discuss the issue.
It thus remains unclear whether the Association of Banks will go on strike or wait for the legislative session.