Jammal Trust Bank’s
liquidation approved

Rights of employees and

depositors are preserved

Riad Salameh, Governor of the Central Bank (BDL), said that he has approved the request of Jammal Trust Bank (JTB) to self-liquidate.

JTB’s request came after it was sanctioned last August by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, which alleged that the bank had knowingly facilitated banking activities for Hezbollah.

JTB’s assets and its share in the National Deposit Guarantee Institution are enough, in principle, to settle all deposits and financial obligations, Salameh said. The funds that are in compliance with Lebanese laws and with BDL’s directives will be paid. The depositors’ money will be available upon maturity, he said.

According to Salameh, the rights of JTB’s employees will be preserved.

JTB said its board of directors had to take the decision to liquidate the bank in full coordination with BDL after the U.S. Treasury put the bank on the Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) list last August. The U.S. Treasury’s decision came despite JTB’s sound financial position and its full compliance with local and foreign banking regulations, the bank said.

JTB had 25 local branches and representative offices in London, Ivory Coast, and Nigeria. Its total assets stood at nearly $1.1 billion at the end of 2017.