Central Bank and banks
defend Bank Audi from smear

Accusations on TV and social media

deemed defamatory

The Central Bank (BDL) and the Association of Banks, in an unprecedented way, came to the defense of Bank Audi, which has been a target of accusations in a TV political talk-show and a negative campaign on social media.

Bank Audi group has refuted accusations allegedly committed by the bank and its Chairman and CEO Samir Hanna.

In a television interview with Hezbollah’s broadcaster Al Manar TV, former minister Wiam Wahhab claimed that, through financial engineering transactions carried out with BDL, Bank Audi had made up for a loss of $1 billion incurred by its Turkish operations. He also called on the judiciary to investigate Hanna.

The bank, which described these claims as ‘lies and defamations’, said: “Bank Audi is keen, once again, to reiterate its unwavering commitment to applicable banking laws and regulations, and to sound governance, under the oversight of the Central Bank and of the Lebanese Banking Control Commission.”

“Any claims to the contrary are pure fabrications done for suspicious purposes and intended to harm the national economy and the banking sector, in the challenging times Lebanon is now going through,” Bank Audi said.

Riad Salameh, Governor of BDL, said that Bank Audi enjoys good governance, high liquidity, and solvency. He said that the bank’s operations are sound and lawful.

The Association of Banks said that the banking sector has been recently the victim of a systematic smear campaign and that Bank Audi abides by all Lebanese and international laws.

Bank Audi is the largest bank in Lebanon in terms of assets. Its total assets stood at $47.5 billion at the end of June.