Image: Kataeb.org (Al-Modon report) (source article)
Bank Saderat Iran's depositors and staff in Lebanon left in limbo after licence pulled
A banking source told Al-Modon the Iranian state bank can repay its small deposit base, but the central bank's decision came with no guidance for clients or its roughly 35 employees.
The Banque du Liban's decision to withdraw the licence of Bank Saderat Iran has left the bank's clients, depositors and employees without clear instructions on what happens next, Al-Modon reported in an article carried by the Kataeb party's website on Sunday.
Bank Saderat Iran, an Iranian state-owned bank, has operated in Lebanon since 1962 through five branches in Verdun, Ghobeiry, Burj al-Barajneh, Baalbek and Saida. Its activity is limited to domiciling salaries and taking deposits, and its staff has shrunk from about 70 to roughly 35.
A banking source said the case differs from Jammal Trust Bank, which was liquidated under Article 17 of Law 110 of 1991 with a temporary manager appointed by the central bank. This time the licence was simply withdrawn, without a procedure for depositors and borrowers. The source said the deposits are small, held by a narrow circle linked to Iran and its allied parties, and that the bank can repay them.
A source at the bank said deposits are held in dollars and lira, that the bank never froze clients' funds after 2019 and so never applied circulars 158 and 166, and that it expects to settle with depositors before closing its branches.
The banking source said the real issue is political: Lebanon cannot afford new complications with correspondent banks and the US Treasury.
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