The US Assistant Treasury Secretary, Mr. Daniel Glaser, visits the Association of Banks in Lebanon

The US Treasury delegation headed by Assistant Secretary Mr. Daniel Glaser visited the Association of Banks in Lebanon at Saifi. The delegation was received by President Dr. François Bassil and ABL Board Members along with the Secretary General Dr. Makram Sader. During the meeting, a review of the financial and banking situation in Lebanon and the region was discussed, with a focus on the precise measures taken by Lebanese banks anticipating different types of risk with a commitment on following international regulations of the banking activities, especially the law of American Tax Compliance (FATCA). 

Dr. Bassil was keen to recall that “the fight against money laundering and financing of terrorism is for our banking industry an ongoing process. This is evidenced by the ongoing developments on the regulatory and supervisory framework. This  trend  is also demonstrated through the regular updates in the policies, procedures and other measures taken by banks to both comply with evolving international standards and requirements, and to protect their institutions from the reputational, operational and legal risks” .

He also added: “The Lebanese government approved in March 2012 three important draft laws that await parliament approval when meeting. The first proposed law seeks to further amend the anti- money laundering law 318 to include new financial crimes, such as the protection of intellectual property rights. The second draft regulates the transfer of funds across borders. The third one is about the exchange of tax information as part of OECD norms to combat tax evasion. These draft laws are currently being discussed in the relevant parliamentary committees and would strengthen the country’s anti money laundering legal framework. ABL is lobbying strongly to enact those laws, and to assure Lebanon’s adherence to the United Nation’s 1999 International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism”.

Dr. Bassil also point out to the circulars issued by the Central Bank requiring the banks and financial institutions to establish a compliance department of two units one in charge of identifying, mitigating and preventing legal risks and the other in charge of verifying compliance with AML/CFT procedures, laws and regulations in force, Dr. Bassil said: “we Lebanese bankers, have dealt and will always deal in a serious, and responsible manner with the issue of anti-money laundering and terrorist financing in order to protect the banking sector, our dollarized economy and our country. We have maintained a higher level of culture, technicality and professionalism in the banking business. Latest statistics show that interbank training including an AML/CFT, FATCA, and compliance seminars and conferences organized by ABL involved around 900 bank employees on average annually during the last three years from 60 banks. This is complemented and supported by similar in-house trainings and other training in country and abroad. The number of participating banks shows the efforts deployed to further extend this new culture to all banks including small and medium size ones”.

In that same context, Dr. Bassil highlighted on the outcome saying: “We are confident of what has been achieved to educate and train our employees and the business community through the manuals of policies and procedures on AML, FATCA and sanctions put in place in Partnership between ABL and Deloitte. Moreover an important evolution took place in our industry at the level of the compliance function. We have included in ABL’S Job and Competences Handbook six compliance functions, 3 of them pertaining to AML/CFT. In addition, we included two specific compliance competences in this handbook and the number of people employed at the compliance department has increased from 34 (2005) to reach 106 officers and responsible in 2014 in addition to 17 compliance directors and 24 legal compliance responsible. Also the CAMS certification holders are increasing in importance; their number in banks grew from 30 in 2006 to 83 in 2014”.

As a matter of policy and as a self-regulated body, Dr. Bassil highlighted the following four remarks:  

“ 1 – We don’t deal with designated parties and we don’t allow them access to the international banking system.

2 – We continuously adopt our policies, procedures and control to capture risk associated with newly designate parties and persons.

3 – In our training materials and events we are very vocal, clear and specific in covering the requirements of U S laws including US sanctions, this beside our policy documents.

4 – More than other regional countries, we have taken a leading position in terms of managing compliance requirements at the very top level of each bank, to have a clear tone from the top on our commitment, resources allocations and the shaping of proper culture”.

By the end of the meeting, President Bassil and Board Members hosted a luncheon to the US Treasury delegation.