Aoun Meets U.S. Treasury Team, Expresses Keenness on Forensic Audit

President Michel Aoun met Tuesday a delegation from the U.S. Treasury, in Baabda.

"Lebanon will continue to combat corruption, money laundering and terror financing operations," Aoun told the delegation.

He added that one of the most prominent manifestations of Lebanon's fight against corruption is "the insistence on achieving a forensic audit of the central bank accounts."

Aoun had held a meeting, last week, with a delegation from New York-based audit firm Alvarez & Marsal, few days after Parliament approved, in a legislative session, a draft law that extended the lifting of banking secrecy related to the forensic audit into the central bank’s accounts.

Alvarez & Marsal had launched an audit of the accounts of Lebanon’s central bank in September 2020, but was forced to pull out two months later because the central bank failed to hand over necessary data. Aoun said in October that the company had resumed its work.