Cash flow in a conflict

When disaster strikes, survival is often earned by those who have planned ahead. For businesses, this means developing contingency plans for worst-case scenarios associated with their operating environments, which can differ depending on locale: in Los Angeles there is the threat of earthquakes, while in Taiwan they face typhoons. In Lebanon the most sizable systemic risk is, perhaps, war.   The Israeli onslaught in the summer of 2006, which killed more than 1,200 Lebanese and wrought some $3.6 billion in damage, served notice that major violent confrontations can, and do, erupt without prior notice. With tensions escalating recently between the region’s belligerents — particularly Israel and Iran — the threat of renewed conflict is real, and a fact that every responsible business should take into consideration. Banque du Liban (BDL), Lebanon’s central bank, recognized this as far back as August 2009 when it sought to reinforce disaster preparedness by issuing “Basic