Lifting banking secrecy: Salam extends retroactivity to 10 years, pending Parliament

Overshadowed by the appointment of the new governor of the Central Bank of Lebanon in a tense atmosphere in Baabda, Thursday's Cabinet also allowed Nawaf Salam's executive to make half of the necessary journey to extend the scope of Law No. 306 of 2022, lifting banking secrecy in place since 1956, while awaiting Parliament's review of the text.The ministers approved the project presented by Finance Minister Yassine Jaber, a member of the Amal movement led by Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri.This project extended the powers granted to several authorized bodies, including the Central Bank of Lebanon and the Banking Control Commission, allowing them to lift banking secrecy to identify holders of bank accounts opened in Lebanon as part of their monitoring missions. The problem was that it also contained a provision drastically...