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And then there were 8…  Lebanese banks lost ground in The Banker magazine’s latest survey of the top 1,000 commercial banks in the world. Eight Lebanese banks made the list, down from nine last year, and none feature among the top 25 banks in the Middle East. The criteria for the ranking is the banks’ tier one capital, the core capital of a bank and a measure of its financial strength, held at the end of 2011. Bank Audi, while regressing by 33 notches, was the top Lebanese bank in the ranking, securing 288th place. It was followed by Blom Bank, down 44 notches to 411th place, and Byblos Bank, down 22 notches to 460th place. Bank of Beirut registered the largest drop, sliding 120 spots to 753rd place. The other four banks in the ranking were Fransabank (down seven places to 616), Banque Libano-Française (down two spots to 674),