JUNE 2014
EDITORIAL
LEADERS
SPECIAL REPORT: BANKING
Should our banks pay more? No.
The tax increases on the banking sector are unjustified and poorly timed
Nassib Ghobril
Minding the moneylenders
Dany Baz, general manager of Bankdata, offers insights into the banking industry
Thomas Schellen and Livia Murray
Lebanon's payment getaway curse
Lebanese merchants find temporary fix , no solution
Executive Editors
The [not so little] bank that could
Bank Audi’s Turkish venture is performing beyond expectations
Thomas Schellen
Size does matter
Freddie Baz explains how Turkish expansion hints at Audi Group’s regional strategy
Thomas Schellen
Banking on the future of Iraq
Lebanese banks see small activity, but big potential in Iraqi market
Livia Murray
Lebanon’s financial sector braces for FATCA
Banks prepare to open their books to the long arms of Uncle Sam
Paul Cochrane
Defending the banks’ bottom line
Q&A with Makram Sader, secretary general of the Association of Banks in Lebanon
Thomas Schellen
ECONOMICS & POLICY
Refugees in their own homeland
Lebanese returnees fleeing Syria receive only meager assistance
James Haines Young and Maya Gebeily
Between vision and mirage
A lack of strategy in natural gas exploitation is causing frustration
Jeremy Arbid
New media mandates a new school system
New techonology poses challenges to educational system
Michele Azrak , Zeina Loutfi and Ramsay Najjar
The unwarranted embrace of decentralization
Ulterior motives threaten the viability of a federal Yemen
Farea Al Muslimi
Avoiding the rise of ‘little’ Lebanon
Stiff challenges stand in the way of successful decentralization
Georges Pierre Sassine
REAL ESTATE & DEVELOPING
Competing constructions
The Real Estate Syndicate of Lebanon prepares for its first awards program
Tiziana Cauli
HOSPITALITY & RETAIL
SOCIETY
In photos: Misery and cheer
Lebanon’s domestic workers demand basic rights
Greg Demarque and Micheline Tobia
Bringing Lebanese cinema to Cannes
Two local films will be screened during the festival
Susannah George
BUSINESS ESSENTIALS
LAST WORD
Easing the pressure on Iran nuclear talks
Progress in negotiations bodes well for the region
Gareth Smyth
