The headquarters of the Banque du Liban. (L'Orient-Le Jour file photo)
Alvarez & Marsal (A&M), the consultancy firm tasked with conducting a forensic audit of Banque du Liban’s accounts, reportedly sent its report to caretaker Finance Minister Youssef Khalil 15 days ago.
The report is in Khalil’s hands, former Justice Minister Salim Jreissati told L’Orient-Le Jour on Tuesday. A cabinet source confirmed this information to L’Orient-Le Jour.
BDL’s forensic audit is a key precondition for unlocking an international aid package to mitigate Lebanon’s unprecedented economic crisis.
Alvarez & Marsal first signed a contract with the Lebanese state in September 2020 to trace the thread of transactions recorded in the BDL’s accounts, but it terminated the contract in November of the same year upon BDL’s refusal to provide it with the documents necessary to carry out the audit. The central bank cited a law on banking secrecy to justify refusing to disclose the documents.
In December 2020, Lebanon’s parliament passed a law to lift banking secrecy for one year on BDL’s and public institutions’ accounts. The firm then signed a new contract with the state in September 2021.
The outcome of the audit, which was supposed to be released a year later, was submitted two weeks ago— nine months late.
Speaking to L’Orient-Le Jour, Salim Jreissati, a close associate of former President Michel Aoun, said he believes the delay is due to “obstacles and impediments similar to those put in the way of Michel Aoun when he was president.”
L’Orient-Le Jour tried to speak to A&M, but to no avail. An adviser to Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, with whom Khalil is affiliated, said he did not know whether Berri knew of the document.
Concealment
Jreissati accused Khalil of withholding the A&M report from the public.
He said such action qualifies as “concealment in breach of the Right of Access to Information Law,” which provides citizens with the right to access information and documents relating to public spending.
“I constantly asked Minister Khalil when he could reveal the contents of the report. Each time he told me that it was over 300 pages long and that he was studying it. However, the length of the document does not explain why the review is taking so long,” said Jreissati.
In his opinion, the report “should contain presumptions and evidence paving the way for prosecutions before the competent courts, and suggest measures to prevent such crimes in the future.”
The Finance Ministry stated on Tuesday that it only received "a draft of the initial report of the audit which is still not finalized," and that "It [the report] is still in the process of some inquiries and questions."
The Ministry claimed the auditing firm's contract was signed with the Lebanese government and that it was the responsibility of the entire cabinet. They stated that their only role in the contract was to mediate between BDL and the auditing company and denied that the report mentioned "economic, financial and political personals especially Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and [caretaker] Prime Minister Najib Mikati."
Khalil told L'Orient-Le Jour the audit report is "far from being finalized," and that " It could take up to 5 more months." Khalil also explained that during the assessment, the auditing company had inquiries for the BDL and that his ministry mediated between the two sides. "For example if there was something unclear in the calculations, the company would ask BDL about it and BDL would clarify it," Khalil said. Asked about why the report was late, Khalil said it was due to the constant strikes in public administrations. "when the report is done, it would be given to the government which will evaluate it."
This article was originally published in French in L'Orient-Le Jour. Translation by Joelle El Khoury.
Additional reporting by Wael Taleb.