The meeting, which was chaired by Mr. Chahdan Jebeyli, the president of the Anti-Money Laundering Committee in the Association of Banks in Lebanon and ABL Secretary General Dr. Makram Sader, primarily focused on the issues of correspondent banks and the US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) as well as other issues.
During the meeting, officials listened to the views and obsessions of the attendees. They also heard and answered all the queries of the participants.
A statement said that in light of the formation of the Capital Market Association (CMA) in accordance with law number 161/2011 related to the financial markets, and the formation of the administrative supervision unit, the banks and the compliance units must adapt to the new legal and administrative reality after the financial market operations are now under the supervision of specialized apparatus for the executive and legal authorities.
Meanwhile, Mr. Jebeyli indicated that the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has not added Lebanon’s name in any of its lists issued on May 25, 2014 and this is a positive indication.
Discussions also centered on the relations between the correspondent banks. These correspondent banks are coming under pressure from its supervisory authorities, which have reflected in dealings with banks around the world, including Lebanon.
For this reason, it is imperative that Lebanese banks must respond to the additional requirements in their dealings with correspondent banks.
This can be achieved through tightening the internal supervision and monitoring, and to provide the necessary explanations and required documents on the clients operations.
Efforts should also be focused on stopping individual accounts for commercial purposes.
The participants underscored the importance of maintaining and developing the relations with correspondent banks, taking into consideration the developments and rules of work for the banking industry in the world.
As for registering the banks with FATCA, the participants agreed that the Lebanese banks take the initiative of registering with this organization as soon as possible so they will be among the first financial institutions registered with FATCA
It is worth noting that Lebanon is ahead of many countries in the region in preparing FATCA conditions and requirements.
Discussions also centered on the need to conduct the necessary training for the staff so that banking policies are clear for all the employees, including the front people who are direct touch with the clients.
The participants insisted that the supervisions and control reach a good level, noting that the financial institutions will be held accountable in the event of weakness or mistake.