BDL Acting Governor Wassim Mansouri. (Credit: Mohammad Azakir/Reuters)
During a trip to Washington to seek a new reprieve for Lebanon, which risks being placed back on the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) watch list this fall, interim Central Bank of Lebanon (BDL) Governor Wassim Mansouri described his meetings with U.S. officials as "positive."
In a statement published by some local media, Mansouri termed his meetings with officials from the U.S. Departments of State and Treasury, as well as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), as "positive." These meetings aim to avoid Lebanon's inclusion on the FATF gray list. "But the outcomes depend on the conclusions reached," he added.
The interim governor continued, "Placing Lebanon on the gray list at this stage is inconsistent with the logic of encouraging the country to take steps to move away from a cash economy, especially since the FATF is well aware of what the Central Bank and the banking sector have done to curb this trend and combat money laundering and terrorist financing."
The FATF, an international financial crime watchdog, has been considering putting Lebanon back on the "gray list" for over a year following a 2023 assessment that deemed the country's efforts insufficient in fighting money laundering and terrorist financing. In June 2023, Lebanon obtained a one-year reprieve to address these issues. However, according to an interim report from FATF's regional branch for the MENA region in March, which we reviewed, the identified shortcomings have not been adequately addressed, making a downgrade to the gray list likely by the next FATF plenary meeting in October.