MP Ibrahim Kanaan, head of the Parliamentary Finance Committee. (Credit: NNA)
The parliamentary Finance Committee, chaired by MP Ibrahim Kanaan, began examining the banking resolution bill on Wednesday, which aims to establish the legal framework for restructuring the sector that has been virtually bankrupt since the socio-economic crisis in Lebanon started in 2019.
"This long-awaited law was submitted to us by the government a few days ago. The session was convened immediately after my return from Washington, in a positive international atmosphere following the adoption of recent modifications to the banking secrecy law," said Kanaan after the meeting.
"This allowed for an immediate review of the articles of the banking reform law in the presence of all concerned parties, except for the Governor of the Central Bank (Karim Souhaid), who apologized citing a trip, and plans to personally attend the next committee session to present his observations on the government's version," Kanaan added. He also called on the government to submit a "financial settlement" bill addressing the issue of the return of bank deposits blocked by the sector.
The Lebanese Forces parliamentary bloc (LF), represented in the government and the committee, said in a statement that it "will make every effort to discuss the articles of this bill, point by point, and reach an agreement with other blocs with the aim of completing its discussion and having it adopted as soon as possible."
Finance Minister Yassine Jaber and the chair of the bank control commission participated in this first meeting. They were part of the delegation, along with Karim Souhaid, representing the executive and the presidency, which traveled to Washington last week during the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank (WB) spring meetings to discuss with representatives of the two organizations as well as American officials, among others.
The week's outcome was positive after Parliament voted for a law regulating banking secrecy, purged of some problematic amendments that were introduced a few days earlier by MPs in a parliamentary committee.
