Lebanon for Banking Secrecy and Offshore?

[hernanday]

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The Banking Secrecy Law was issued in Lebanon on September 3, 1956 and was one of the most comprehensive pieces of banking secrecy legislation in the world. Under this law, banks in Lebanon are committed to absolute secrecy. A bank account cannot be disclosed to private entities or public authorities—whether judicial, administrative, financial, or military—except in certain cases.

How good is Lebanon, not a name that comes up alot in these discussions. I'm also interested in Austria. Anyone have any experience or more info, I can't find much details on it, or if thesse laws are still even valid.

 

[James Turner]

Lebanon will cause you no end of problems. It may be possible to open a bank account there but transacting outside Lebanon will be incredibly difficult as it is disliked by almost all banks worldwide.

 

[KJK]

The Lebanese Central Bank is a trustworthy and reliable institution that definitely does not have any issues or withdrawal problems. The commercial banks do not limit withdrawals and do not cause any problems, the country has enough foreign currency deposits and it is definitely not going bankrupt. There are no problems with the government, refugees or the financial system whatsoever.

Here are some of the satisifed Lebanese customers:

 

[Martin Everson]

How good is Lebanon

Not good.

See my post below it contains link to video of people smashing up the central bank. Not sure how up to speed you are in Middle East affairs but Lebanon is more unstable than ever right now and nearly bankrupt. You put your money in Lebanon if you wish to give away your money. Lebanon is also part of CRS.

Which EMIs accept to open a corporate account for Lebanese people

Which EMIs accept to open a corporate account for Lebanese people residing in Lebanon? Looking for EMIs that accept payments from the Middle East and Africa region.

www.offshorecorptalk.com

 

[Gediminas]

A bank account cannot be disclosed to private entities or public authorities—whether judicial, administrative, financial, or military

It is hard to believe this would be possible in Lebanon.

 

[Martin Everson]

Feel sorry for the banks

Lebanon’s sovereign rating lowered by S&P Global Ratings

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The Banque du Liban will also pay half of the interest on foreign exchange deposits in local currency to reduce the pressure on dollar reserves.

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[Sols]

There is much about Lebanon as a country that makes it unattractive, but I can't think of a jurisdiction that's been through more trouble than Lebanon and whose banking system has emerged largely unscathed. Despite civil war, war, and societal unrest, I believe Intra Bank in 1966 is the only Lebanese bank to ever have failed. But past performance is no guarantee of future success.

You will run into problems as soon as you move money in or out of the country, though. Expect to wade through an ocean of paperwork before the foreign bank accepts the transfer, if they do. Lebanon is home to Hezbollah and given it's status as a minor regional financial center, it's seen as a high-risk jurisdiction for financing of terrorism.

In terms of secrecy, Lebanon has signed up for CRS since 2018.

 

[hernanday]

There is much about Lebanon as a country that makes it unattractive, but I can't think of a jurisdiction that's been through more trouble than Lebanon and whose banking system has emerged largely unscathed. Despite civil war, war, and societal unrest, I believe Intra Bank in 1966 is the only Lebanese bank to ever have failed. But past performance is no guarantee of future success.

You will run into problems as soon as you move money in or out of the country, though. Expect to wade through an ocean of paperwork before the foreign bank accepts the transfer, if they do. Lebanon is home to Hezbollah and given it's status as a minor regional financial center, it's seen as a high-risk jurisdiction for financing of terrorism.

In terms of secrecy, Lebanon has signed up for CRS since 2018.

Why is Lebanon considered a jurisidiction with banking secrecy then, and what of its banking secrecy act of the 1950s. Like I'm thinking in terms of asset protection, so I'm not worried about tax crs?

 

[Sols]

Why is Lebanon considered a jurisidiction with banking secrecy then,

Is it?

Lebanon confirms its commitment towards greater tax transparency - OECD

Data and research on exchange of information, including tax avoidance, Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information, OECD Model Tax Convention, TRACE, Lebanon represented by Mr Ghady El Khoury, Chargé d’affaires of the Embassy of Lebanon in...

www.oecd.org

Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes: Lebanon 2019 (Second Round): Peer Review Report on the Exchange of Information on Request | READ online

This report contains the 2019 Peer Review Report on the Exchange of Information on Request of Lebanon.

read.oecd-ilibrary.org

and what of its banking secrecy act of the 1950s.

Lebanon And Its First AEOI - Offshore Banking - Lebanon

One year from the signature of the Multilateral Convention, the deadline of the first exchange of information based on the OECD agreements is approaching.

www.mondaq.com

If you solve residency by moving to Lebanon or a place where you don't mind being reported, then Lebanon's banking secrecy remains.

Like I'm thinking in terms of asset protection, so I'm not worried about tax crs?

If your asset protection strategy is based on secrecy, in a world where it's just a matter of time before everyone everywhere has implemented CRS/AEOI (and eventually it's spread to crypto exchanges and EMIs), I would argue that you're doing it wrong. Unless you obtain this secrecy through separation between yourself and the assets by some mechanism such as a trust or foundation or other solution, the secrecy element will go away. You can no longer long-term and sustainably directly own assets and be confident that they won't be reported.