U.S. Official Calls for Uprooting Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing from Lebanese System
The U.S. Department of Treasury Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing, Daniel Glaser, called on Friday for the Lebanese state to uproot money laundering, terrorist financing and other forms of illicit finance from the Lebanese financial system.
“The Lebanese financial system is a critical asset to the Lebanese people and the basis of the national and regional economy,” Glaser said after talks with Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Miqati at the Grand Serail.
Glaser is on an official visit to Lebanon, where he participated in the 2013 Annual Arab Banking Conference.
The meeting was held in presence of U.S. ambassador to Lebanon David Hale.
Glaser held talks later on with PM-designate Tammam Salam at his residence in el-Msaytbeh.
“There is still much work to be done and many challenges ahead... that have been magnified by recent politic developments in this region,” the U.S. official said earlier during the conference.
He pointed out that Lebanon's ability “to retain its its position as an important regional and international financial center requires constant vigilance.”
Glaser lashed out at Hizbullah during his speech, stressing that “working together we can stop illicit financial activities of groups that seek to destabilize the region such as al-Qaida and Hizbullah.”
He highlighted the case of the Lebanese Canadian Bank, which was accused of laundering money from drugs and other operations for clients tied to Hizbullah, saying that the party's involvement in a “wide range of illicit activities and its ties to sanctioned regimes... will only increase as more countries apply sanctions on Hizbullah.”
In June 2013, LCB agreed Tuesday to pay U.S. authorities $102 million to settle the charges.
Beirut-based LCV was singled out in February 2011 for allegedly moving hundreds of millions of dollars for criminal groups and traffickers operating in Latin America, West Africa and the Middle East.
Some of the customers it served were closely linked to Hizbullah, which Washington has blacklisted as a "terrorist organization."
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