As part of the public relations campaign that the Association of Banks in Lebanon is developing in the banking and financial capitals of the world, and in line with the trips made to Washington and New York, a banking delegation visited Paris headed by Dr Joseph Torbey, President of the Association, and the participation of members from the Board of Directors, that also represent banks operating in the French capital namely: Saad Azhari, Vice-President of the Association and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Blom Bank, Chahdan Jebeyli, General Manager and Group Head of legal and compliance department of group Audi-Saradar, Nadim El-Kassar, Chairman of the Board of Directors and General Manager of Fransabank Invest, Walid Raphael, Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of Bank Libano-Francaise, in addition to Dr Makram Sader, Secretary General of the Association.  The trip included visits to the Finance Committee of the French National Assembly, Banque de France (BDF), the Ministry of Finance and Economy and the Association of French Banks (FBF).

Given the importance of Paris as a business center for the Lebanese in general and for a major large group of banks in particular, and taking into consideration the important role played by France in the world and specifically in Lebanon, the visit achieved its intended purposes that can be summarized as follows:

 The visit at first constituted an occasion to present and introduce the banking sector in Lebanon to the official French authorities concerned with the financial and economic matters stressing the importance of the sector in preserving the stability of Lebanon, the continuity of the state, and also its importance in the stability of the region as a whole.

The visit succeeded secondly in strengthening the professional and correspondence relationships with the French banks. As such, the Association of Banks in France (FBF) held on its premises a working lunch for the Lebanese delegation with the participation of representatives of large French banks with relationships to Lebanese banks.

The visit finally presented an opportunity to explain how Lebanese banks respect and implement international and European sanctions and how they address the anti-money laundering and the counter-financing of terrorism through the mechanism that was specified in Law 318 of 2003.

From their side, the French authorities that met the Lebanese delegation emphasized first that they are keen on the stability of Lebanon and its banking sector as one of the major pillars of this stability. Additionally, they stressed their appreciation for the professionalism shown by the management of the banks in Lebanon during major internal and international crisis. They also praised the commitment of Lebanese banks operating in Paris to the standards of the banking industry and praised also their cooperation with the French authorities.

The President of the Finance, Economic and Budget Committee in the French National Assembly also showed his appreciation for the ability of banks in Lebanon to perform well despite the difficult working conditions. In response to his inquiry, the Lebanese delegation clarified that the banks and the monetary authorities work separately from political considerations in financing the government and the economy.

Finally, the official authorities, in particular in the Ministries of Finance and Economy, stressed the need to conclude a treaty for the exchange of tax information to avoid the inclusion of Lebanon on the list of non-cooperative countries or the list of "tax havens". The inclusion has recently been avoided following the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ opinion. The Lebanese delegation explained the sensitive current situation and informed of the referral by the Government of a draft law in this regard to Parliament. The delegation also explained that bank secrecy is not an obstacle to the exchange of information if required through the Special Investigation Commission (SIC).

At the end of the visit, the delegation of the Association organized a working lunch in the presence of the Lebanese Ambassador to Paris Mr Boutros Assaker, the Advisor to the Minister of Foreign Affairs for the Middle East Mr Denis Pieton and the French MP from Lebanese descent Mr Henri Gebrayel. Lebanese banks directors in Paris and the banking delegation also attended this lunch. 

During the lunch, the participants stressed the importance and the need to renew dialogue between officials from the two countries on tax transparency and exchange of tax information with the international community. The banking delegation expressed its intention to follow up on the issue with the relevant authorities in order to find a suitable procedure.

In conclusion, the visit was important in regards of the quality and standards of the meetings as well as an opportunity to inform the French side of how the Lebanese banking sector is seriously dealing with the sanctions in conformity with international best practices. The visit was also an opportunity to thank and encourage the French party on their position supporting the stability of the Lebanese banking sector in many international fora.