Lebanon ’s parliament passed its third amendment to the banking secrecy law in April 2025, as part of a renewed effort to meet the International Monetary Fund’s long-standing reform demands. In parallel, the cabinet unveiled a long-anticipated bank restructuring law, prompting cautious optimism over the eventual resolution of the financial crisis that has paralyzed the country’s banking sector since 2020. The timing of these measures was far from coincidental. They were announced as a Lebanese delegation headed to Washington DC for the Spring Meetings of the IMF and World Bank.

The moves reflect the desire of the recently formed reform-oriented government, which sought to bring “tangible evidence” of progress to the international stage. According to LIMS, the authorities can also stress on the recent macroeconomic gains, including the currency stability since mid-2023 and a fiscal surplus recorded in 2024. These developments offer the delegation a stronger hand in negotiating a new programme with the IMF, especially that the pre-conditions outlined in previous staff-level agreement are no longer appropriate given Lebanon’s altered context.

On the substance, the latest revision to Lebanon’s banking secrecy framework broadens the scope of access to financial information allowing independent auditors, supervisory authorities, and the central bank to review banking data with a 10-year retroactive reach. Crucially, investigators may now search records by individuals’ names rather than being limited to account numbers—a shift aimed at enhancing the capacity to identify those who transferred funds abroad after capital controls were informally imposed in late 2019. The ability to trace the outflow of funds during the crisis, when ordinary citizens were locked out of their deposits, is considered a key element in restoring public confidence and meeting international transparency standards.

Meanwhile, the newly introduced bank restructuring law seeks to address a long-standing legal vacuum in Lebanon’s approach to financial sector resolution. The law establishes a formal mechanism for handling future bank failures, which until now had no clearly defined legal framework. However, its relevance to the current crisis is limited. This legislation does not propose a roadmap for resolving the present banking losses. Nonetheless, the new regulation outlines the authority that will oversee the restructuring process.

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