Your Excellency, Mr. Tom Fletcher
Ambassador of the United Kingdom to Lebanon
We are very delighted to welcome you to our Association of Banks in Lebanon, and seize this opportunity to exchange views and discuss mutual Lebanese-British concerns and issues. On this occasion, we also thank you for your support to Lebanon and the Lebanese banking sector, expressed in your latest speeches and interviews, amid recently launched attacks by some columnists in international press, against the Lebanese banking sector.
Such press communication addressed by yourself, Mr. Ambassador, and spread through domestic and international media, is a matter of major importance to us, especially when emanating from a notable personality representing an important country, in areas of financial regulation and supervision, anti- money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism, and also because London is Europe’s most important financial center.
As you well know, Lebanon banks adopt and comply with the best international norms and standards in terms of risk management, capital allocation, Know Your Customer, and combating money laundering. Moreover, applying and adhering to international rules and regulations and respecting the supremacy of international resolutions has always been, and will always be a firm commitment of ours. We, Lebanese bankers, together with the Lebanese banking regulatory and supervisory authorities, spare no effort to keep Beirut an eminent financial center in the Middle East, and aim persistently to strengthen its role in the region and the world.
Mr Ambassador,
As you may know, Lebanon is UK’s 2nd largest trading partner in the Levant, and UK’s 7th trading partner in the Middle East, according to UK Trade & Investment Government Agency. We believe however, that the good relations with the UK are not only measured in terms of trade and financial transactions, mainly driven by outstanding overseas contacts of the Lebanese business community and diaspora, but evaluated as well, in terms of sharing the same values: those of democracy, freedom of speech and expression, free market principles, liberal trade and investment policies, and absence of restrictions on capital flows, etc…
While we shall discuss today issues of common interest, we may also, dear guest, identify and talk about areas of cooperation that are likely to increase ties with the UK. I have specifically in mind, cooperation with the Financial Service Authority FSA in areas such as human resources training and development, since we, Lebanese bankers, place a great deal of importance and spare no effort to train and develop our human capital, to bring our bankers’ skills and competencies up to international levels, and allow them carry out their duties in a more efficient and effective manner. We, thus, strongly support any Lebanese – British cooperation in terms of human resources development and Anti-money laundering.
Mr Ambassador,
The reputation and protection of our banks and customers take priority over anything else. In this context of involvement in preventing and controlling financial crimes and facilitating international cooperation, I should mention that our Association of Banks in Lebanon has been, through its delegate, an active participant to the annual Cambridge International Symposium on Economic Crime, usually attended by more than 1500 delegates from over 90 countries. Those include senior ministers and representatives directly involved in public and private sectors, and working in areas of prevention and control of economic and financial fraud, corruption and abuse.
To conclude, Mr Ambassador, we highly value your visit to our premises, and look forward to further developing stronger ties, for a mutually beneficial cooperation and collaboration between our country and yours.
