Banks pay STL funds

ABL to transfer $32 million to HRC to cover international tribunal funding

The Association of Banks in Lebanon (ABL) said that it will transfer $32 million to the Higher Relief Commission (HRC). The payment is intended to reinstate the sum transferred to the UN-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) earlier in December.

The ABL said that the decision “reflects its belief in the need to protect the depositors’ funds and to reinforce local political stability.”

Lebanon is responsible for financing 49 percent of the STL costs, which stood at around $32 million this year. Prime Minister Najib Mikati took the initiative to transfer the country’s share of the funding after failing to reach political consensus on the court’s funding in Cabinet.