The Parliamentary Finance and Budget Committee, chaired by MP Ibrahim Kanaan, held a session on Wednesday to begin reviewing the draft law on the reform of the banking sector, recently approved by the government.
The meeting was attended by nearly 50 lawmakers, Minister of Finance Yassine Jaber and representatives from the banking sector.
Despite the absence of the Governor of the Central Bank of Lebanon, Karim Souhaid, who is currently abroad, the session proceeded as planned. Kanaan emphasized that while this draft law is highly anticipated, it is only a general framework. It does not address the distribution of responsibilities in the financial crisis or the restitution of deposits, which are among the main concerns of the Lebanese people.
Lawmakers unanimously insisted on the need to pair this text with another essential piece of legislation: the financial regulation law (or “clean-up law”), as outlined in Article 37 of the draft. This law, still missing from parliamentary discussions, is considered a key instrument to restore the priority of depositors and support the revival of the sector.
The committee urged the government to promptly submit this missing text. Kanaan reminded that it was only under the pressure of his committee that former Prime Minister Najib Mikati had previously promised the creation of a financial clean-up law. Without this law, trust cannot be restored.
“It is not enough to adopt laws to regain trust,” he stated, stressing the importance of concrete measures, effective regulation and enhanced supervision of the banking sector, in coordination with the Central Bank of Lebanon and the regulatory authorities.
A new session is scheduled for next week to incorporate the observations of the Governor of the Central Bank, a central player in the implementation of the reform. Some voices have criticized the decision to condition the entry into force of one law on the existence of another law, proposing instead to vote on both texts simultaneously or revise the implementation mechanisms.
Kanaan also reassured depositors, “The general spirit in Parliament is to defend their rights. Neither the government nor the MPs wish to erase or legalize the indefinite retention of deposits.”
He concluded by stating that the ultimate goal remains the restoration of trust, both among citizens and international partners.
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