Lebanon Banks: Salameh raises goal for capital adequacy

Lebanon plans to raise the minimum level of top quality capital reserves held by banks to 12 percent within seven years, the Central Bank governor said Friday.

Riad Salameh said he originally envisaged asking banks to raise reserves of Tier 1 capital to 10 percent – already significantly higher than the 7 percent required by the Basel (more…)

Special report: The squeeze on Assad

The regime of Bashar Assad is tottering. The extraordinary endurance of demonstrators week after week is paying off. His fall would probably trigger a short-term surge in violence, but a better government would emerge

U.S. envoy: US Treasury not targeting Lebanese banks

U.S. Ambassador Connelly met with the board of directors of the Association of Bankers in Lebanon, reassuring the ABL that the action taken by the U.S. Treasury against the Lebanese Canadian Bank was “not targeted against the Lebanese banking sector.” (more…)

No other Lebanese bank is on US Treasury list, official

The Lebanese Canadian Bank (LCB) had been put up for sale after the U.S. Treasury Department designated it last month as a “primary money laundering concern,” claiming it helped launder up to $200 million a month for a Lebanese-based drug smuggling organization with ties to Hezbollah. (more…)

Back to business in Egypt

Banks across Egypt threw open their doors Sunday, returning to business after an almost weeklong closure mandated by the central bank because of strikes and labor protests that have hampered efforts to reboot the nation’s economy.

It marked the second time in three weeks that Egypt’s banks have reopened after a state-ordered closure, highlighting the uncertainty that prevails in the country more than a week after mass demonstrations toppled longtime President Hosni Mubarak. An earlier attempt to open the banks and establish a semblance of normalcy during the height of the anti-government protests lasted only a week before the lenders were ordered shut. (more…)

Egypt banks closed after one bank chief forced to quit

Egypt’s new government on Sunday ordered banks closed for the next two days after protests by National Bank workers apparently drove out the head of the institution. (more…)

Salameh backs LCB despite U.S. sanctions

U.S. authorities ordered sanctions Thursday against a Lebanese bank that the U.S. says helped drug traffickers launder money and finance the Lebanese group Hezbollah. (more…)

Lebanon’s Bank Audi profit up by 22% in 2010, report

Lebanon’s Bank Audi said on Thursday its 2010 net profit increased by 22 percent in 2010 to $352 million as its loans and deposits grew. (more…)

Confidence returns to ME investment, report

Middle East governments and companies are raising cash again from debt and equity markets, while solid oil prices and improving economic fundamentals are helping the region recover and restructure. (more…)

Lebanon’s Byblos bank says net profit up 15%

Lebanon’s Byblos bank said on Friday its net profit for the first six months of 2010 rose 15 percent to $72.4 million compared with the same period last year. (more…)