Salameh Reassures Customers of Sanctioned JTB: Deposits are Secure

Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh stressed on Friday that BDL is closely following the issue of Jammal Trust Bank sanctioned by the US treasury and reassured its customers that their deposits were “secure.”

Salameh said: “BDL has a presence in (Jammal Trust Bank) the bank and all legal deposits are secure and guaranteed during their time of maturity in order to preserve the interests of customers.”

“Liquidity is secured in order to meet the requirements of the bank’s depositors,” he told Arab Economic News in an interview.

The U.S. administration imposed sanctions Thursday on Lebanon’s Jammal Trust Bank over transactions allegedly linked to Hizbullah.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) said the bank “knowingly facilitates banking activities for Hizbullah.”

The Association of Banks in Lebanon meanwhile voiced regret over the sanctions on Jammal Trust Bank, reassuring that the measure will not affect the banking sector or JTB’s clients.