Jean Riachi Chairman, Financial Funds Advisers E How could UN sanctions on Syria affect Lebanon’s finance sector? What can we expect from Syria in the long term, after possible regime change or crisis resolution? I don’t think UN sanctions on Syria would affect Lebanon’s finance sector. I don’t see how they could affect it. They might affect the transportation sector, the industrial sector but I don’t see what effect they could have on financial markets or banks in Lebanon, other than maybe the freezing of some Syrian accounts in Lebanon, which cannot be negative. So, I don’t think sanctions would have a significant effect on this country’s finance sector. On the contrary, if there are any sanctions which affect Syrian institutions, that might affect the level of activity of Syrian nationals through Lebanon. They’re mainly commercial banking issues. So far, although the assassination of former prime minister [Rafik Hariri] has
