Dr Freddie Baz, Bank Audi’s CFO and Chief Strategist talked to Executive about the current situation for banks in Lebanon and future prospects for the sector. E How do you view the expansion of Lebanese banks in the region. Do you believe they can compete with foreign players? When we started expanding in the region, we tended to favor acquiring local financial institutions well established in each country. This approach has been particularly helpful in closed markets where Central Bank authorities have decided to stop granting new licenses. In such markets, which usually encourage consolidation through mergers and acquisitions, we have and continue to look for an inorganic growth. As an illustration, we are considering consolidation in Jordan, a market where many opportunities are available as middle size banks show good profitability ratios. However, our initial strategy has been to grow organically. In Syria, we were able to build close
