Lebanese Canadian Bank

The Lebanese Canadian Bank, now defunct,[1] was based in Beirut in Lebanon and maintained a network of 35 branches in Lebanon and a representative office in Montreal, Canada. The bank was established in 1960 as Banque des Activities Economiques SAL and it operated as a subsidiary of the Royal Bank of Canada Middle East from 1968 to 1988 and then became a privately owned Lebanese bank. LCB provided a broad range of corporate, retail, and investment products, and maintained extensive correspondent accounts with banks worldwide, including several U.S. financial institutions. In 2009 LCB’s total assets were worth more than $5 billion.[2]

In 2013 the Lebanese Canadian Bank agreed to pay $102 million in settlement after an investigation and legal action by the Drug Enforcement Administration and US Treasury and other US government authorities, which found that the Bank was involved in funding Hizbollah and other terrorist organizations and also money laundering for the narcotics community.[3][4] The US authorities also believed that some of LCB's senior managers had assisted certain customers a scheme to launder narcotics payments by layering it cashflows related to used car trading between the United States and Africa, from which a share of cashflow was diverted to Hizbollah, but the US Authorities declined to reveal the basis for this claim and it was denied by Hizbollah.[5] On 3 March 2011 it was announced that the bank was to merge with French bank Société Générale.[6] The sale was effected by a transfer of most its assets to Société Générale’s Lebanese unit.[7]

References

  1. ↑ Smythe, Christie. "Lebanese Canadian Bank to Pay $102 Million to Settle Suit". Bloomberg website. 25 June 2013. Retrieved 10 July 2015. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2013-06-25/lebanese-canadian-bank-to-pay-102-million-to-settle-suit
  2. ↑ Section "Background on LCB" in US Treasury website, 10 Feb 2011, retrieved 10 July 2015. "Treasury Identifies Lebanese Canadian Bank Sal as a “Primary Money Laundering Concern”" http://www.treasury.gov/press-center/press-releases/Pages/tg1057.aspx
  3. ↑ US Department of Justice website, "Manhattan U.S. Attorney Announces $102 Million Settlement Of Civil Forfeiture And Money Laundering Claims Against Lebanese Canadian Bank" retrieved 10 July 2015. http://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/manhattan-us-attorney-announces-102-million-settlement-civil-forfeiture-and-money
  4. ↑ US Treasury website, 10 Feb 2011, retrieved 10 July 2015. " Treasury Identifies Lebanese Canadian Bank Sal as a “Primary Money Laundering Concern”" http://www.treasury.gov/press-center/press-releases/Pages/tg1057.aspx
  5. ↑ Becker, Jo. "Beirut Bank Seen as a Hub of Hezbollah’s Financing". New York Times. 13 December 2011. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/14/world/middleeast/beirut-bank-seen-as-a-hub-of-hezbollahs-financing.html?_r=0
  6. ↑ Karouny, Mariam. "Lebanon's LCB to merge with Societe Generale unit", Reuters website, 3 March 2011. (Retrieved 10 July 2016). http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/03/lebanon-bank-idUSLDE7222G420110303
  7. ↑ O’Neill, Dominic, "Bank of Beirut fine adds to Lebanon woes", Euromoney, April 2015. (Retrieved 10 July 2015). http://www.euromoney.com/Article/3442038/Bank-of-Beirut-fine-adds-to-Lebanon-woes.html
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