SGBL Decries 'Organized Campaign', Vows Lawsuits
Lebanon’s SGBL bank on Friday lamented that it is facing “an organized campaign aimed at stripping it of the confidence of its clients and the public.”
“In this regard, al-Akhbar newspaper has accustomed us to such campaigns, and this systematic campaign has been followed by TV campaigns championed by a so-called economic expert who has given TV interviews that are only aimed at insulting Société Générale de Banque au Liban S.A.L. and its owners,” SGBL said in a statement.
“The bank will file the necessary lawsuits next week, especially regarding the defamation offense or rather the crimes of undermining the State’s financial standing and harming the credibility of Lebanese banks, especially SGBL,” the bank added.
It also vowed that from now on, it “will not be lenient towards any harmful act coming from any side” and that it will “take all the necessary measures before the competent civilian and criminal courts.”
In an earlier statement, SGBL had said that an al-Akhbar newspaper article titled "the French are withdrawing from Société Générale" contained "totally inaccurate and misleading information thus exposing the newspaper, the author of the article and the editor-in-chief to criminal legal actions."
"The accounting procedure applied by 'Société Générale (France)' towards constituting a provision regarding its equity participation in the share capital of 'Société Générale de Banque au Liban S.A.L.' consists of a standard procedure which is undertaken in case of a credit rating downgrade of the country where the local bank conducts its business, in accordance with the IFRS international accounting standards,” it explained.
“Therefore, and contrary to the false information contained in this article, the aforesaid accounting procedure does not in any way mean that 'Société Générale (France)' is divesting its interest in 'Société Générale de Banque au Liban S.A.L.' and is absolutely not related to the latter’s financial situation," it added.
“'Société Générale de Banque au Liban S.A.L.', which is currently finalizing the increase of its common equity tier one (CET 1) in the amount of USD 283 million through cash contributions in United States Dollars (pursuant to the resolutions passed by the Board of Directors and the General Assembly held on 23 January 2020 to this effect) in accordance with the Intermediary Circular No. 532 issued by the Central Bank of Lebanon on 4 November 2019, abides by the solvency and liquidity ratios required by the Central Bank of Lebanon and the Basel Accords," SGBL went on to say.
Source: Naharnet
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