BEIRUT – President Michel Aoun received a delegation from the United States Treasury Department Tuesday and US Ambassador to Lebanon Dorothy Shea, the state-run National News Agency reported.

Here’s what we know:

    • Lebanon began the week with two high-stakes visits from two separate delegations from Washington. The first is from the International Monetary Fund and led by Ernesto Ramirez-Rigo, part of official negotiations that could lead to the unlocking of a financial assistance program aimed at pulling Lebanon out of its economic crisis.

    • The second is from the US Treasury, headed by the Acting Assistant Secretary and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Office of Terrorist Financing and Financial Crimes Paul Ahern, and his deputy Eric Meyer, according to the US Embassy website.

    • At the end of December, the Association of Lebanese Banks was criticized by the US Treasury Under-Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, Brian Nelson. Speaking during a meeting by videoconference with the members of the General Assembly of the ABL, the American official had notably expressed his "disappointment" at the lack of initiative of the Lebanese banks in the fight against corruption before pointing out their lack of proactivity.