Beirut: Prime Minister, Nawaf Salam, on Tuesday received a delegation from the Depositors' Association at the Grand Serail, where discussions focused on the future course of the draft financial regularization law. Speaking after the meeting, association representative Raed Bou Hamdan said the delegation presented its position as a depositors' advocacy group, stressing that it does not claim to represent all depositors but firmly rejects any attempt to misrepresent its stance through what he described as a media campaign led by the Association of Banks. He said claims that both depositors and banks oppose the draft law are misleading.
According to National News Agency - Lebanon, Bou Hamdan noted that while the association has objections to certain aspects of the bill, these differ fundamentally from the banks' position. He underlined that the association seeks to protect Lebanon's gold reserves as a national asset, accusing banks of pushing to liquidate around $10 billion in gold to offset their own losses.
He added that the association supports forensic auditing and accountability, principles that were incorporated into the government's draft following consultations with the Prime Minister's office. In contrast, he said, the banking lobby opposes forensic audits and accountability.
Bou Hamdan stressed that the association is calling for fair treatment of all depositors, whether their deposits are below or above $100,000, to ensure the best possible recovery of funds. He accused banks of exploiting depositors' suffering to undermine the reform plan, seeking to avoid any comprehensive solution, evade responsibility for losses, and shift the burden onto the state and public finances, ultimately at the expense of citizens.