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…)

Bank of Beirut may acquire 2 foreign banks

Bank of Beirut SAL, a Lebanese lender, may acquire by September two banks in Africa and Asia with assets of about $1 billion each, Chairman Salim Sfeir said

“Bank lending is growing but not as much as deposits are growing and this is why we are compelled to look for other opportunities out of the country,” Sfeir said in an interview in Muscat, Oman, today. He didn’t identify the banks involved. (more…)

Salameh: Lebanon cannot sustain another conflict

During this interview with Bloomberg , Lebanon’s central Bank Governor Riad Salameh said:“Lebanon cannot sustain another conflict. Its economy will suffer. “