Foreign banks:The big dilemma

For at least the past four years, foreign banks have been leaving Lebanon in regular succession. The exodus began in 2001, when ING Baring sold its franchise to Byblos Bank, followed by ABN Amro also selling its Lebanese operation to Byblos Bank in 2002, while Credit Lyonnais sold its franchise to Credit Bank, a smaller domestic bank. More recently, during 2004, Crédit Agricole also left the country, selling its 51% stake to local individual investors. It has also been six years since a foreign bank announced its intention to acquire a local bank, let alone set up a branch in Lebanon. In fact, most international banks have shied away from entering the Lebanese market, which has only four major Western banks, HSBC, BNP Paribas (BNPI), Standard Chartered and Citibank, all of whom have a decades-old historical presence and are committed to the country. This is the main reason why BNPI