What BankMed is to the Hariris, BLOM Bank to the Azharis, BLC and SGBL to the different lines of Sehnaouis, Bank Audi to the Audis and Creditbank to the Khalifes is perhaps not as clear as a bell when it comes to determining ownership percentages to the decimal. The shareholdings become particularly blurred when banks are owned not only by individual family members, but also by family owned companies. However, while most Lebanese banks have a dynastic history and are still at least partly owned and managed by the families that founded them, management and decisionmaking has been forced into the open. That is, behind these family owned machines stand layers of decisionmaking and management: boards, group executive committees and mid to senior management. As the reins of the company are transferred from one generation of bankers to the next, the processes behind the transition are put under pressure to give
