Lebanon: The Fight Against Money Laundering

Shortly after the cessation of hostilities in Lebanon, the Lebanese government with the help of the international community (the United Nations Development Program) launched a nationwide drive aimed at completely stopping the production and trafficking of illegal drugs. A great deal of success has been achieved in that respect. In line with these efforts, the international community began exerting pressure on the Lebanese banking system to do away with its ‘banking secrecy law’ since it was identified, by the former, as a deterrent in its attempts to fight drug dealers, a perception that was not shared by the Lebanese banking community. The rationale behind such a fundamental difference in opinion is, of course, related to the nature of the process beginning at ‘the crime’ and ending at ‘clean money’.