The Lebanese President returns the amended banking secrecy law to Parliament

The Lebanese President returned to the House of Representatives today, Wednesday, an amended banking secrecy law that was passed by lawmakers about a month ago, saying that it needs more amendments to strengthen it.

Parliament's passage of this law on July 26 was seen as a modest first step toward reforms that Lebanon needs to obtain $3 billion from the International Monetary Fund and help mitigate the financial collapse.

But the law that was approved was a watered-down version of the original proposal, raising fears that the International Monetary Fund would not consider it strong enough to be a genuine reform measure.

The law does not lift bank secrecy as a whole and only allows certain government agencies to lift it specifically in criminal investigation cases.

President Michel Aoun said, in a written statement today, Wednesday, that the bank secrecy law is one of the most important texts to be approved in this context because it deals with the banking secrecy system.

On that basis, he said, the law required greater clarification in order to ensure its correct and automatic application, including defining the time frame within which it would be applicable and amending the institutions that could lift confidentiality.

The financial collapse in Lebanon, which has entered its third year, caused the currency to fall more than 90%, poverty spread, paralyzing the financial system, and the inability of depositors to obtain their savings in Lebanon's most destabilizing crisis since the civil war between 1975 and 1990.

Donor countries want Lebanon to enact reforms to address the root causes of the crisis, including decades of government waste and corruption, before aid is released.

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