Lebanon's banking secrecy law amendments raise concerns of setback, former financial judge tells LBCI

Amid discussions in the joint parliamentary committees on amendments to the banking secrecy law, particularly regarding its retroactive application, former financial judge Jean Tannous spoke to LBCI.

He confirmed that the Lebanese parliament's decision to amend the law—by adding a clause to apply it retroactively for only 10 or 5 years in relation to banking restructuring—marks a setback from the progress made in 2022.

That year, the banking secrecy was lifted from the accounts of lawmakers, ministers, judges, employees, military personnel, political party leaders, civil society organizations, and members of the boards of banks and media companies.

Tannous pointed out that although the law passed in 2022 did not explicitly state that it would be retroactive, its nature implied retroactivity, especially since it applied to anyone holding any of the mentioned positions since 1988.

He explained that with the new clause specifying the retroactive effect of the law only for the banking restructuring section, the rest of the provisions of the law are no longer retroactive. 

This is due to the absence of a similar explicit clause for retroactivity, as seen in the section related to banking restructuring.