Information has indicated that the warnings of the delegation from the U.S. Department of the Treasury that visited Lebanon must be taken seriously; otherwise, sanctions will be imposed on individuals and institutions that Americans suspected of facilitating the financing of terrorism and money laundering or of not doing what is necessary to combat these two dangerous plagues.

The delegation discussed with Lebanese non-governmental entities the issue of the delay in the restructuring of banks and the persistence of this sector in "zombie" mode since the beginning of the crisis, without a clear prospect of resolution.

Warnings to Lebanon from the International Financial Action Task Force (FATF) are now more serious than before, warning of a possible gray listing as early as next June. The Bank of Lebanon and the Bank Control Committee have not escaped criticism for their slowness in reform and in fulfilling their role since the beginning of the crisis. Indeed, measures such as Circular 165, which allowed the Bank of Lebanon to place relatively high liquid deposits in the Bank of Lebanon instead of corresponding foreign banks, are measures that raise questions and doubts about their potential for money laundering, knowing that the central bank wanted this to limit the cash economy.

Sources estimate that Circular 165 could become a "laundering machine" for money and that the continuity of the collapse of the banking sector and the absence of necessary reforms increase the space of the cash economy, thus posing a risk that Lebanon be excluded from the global banking and financial system.

The delegation from the U.S. Department of the Treasury that visited Lebanon last week left after meeting several official and unofficial entities. Banking sources indicated that the delegation met with representatives of the Banks Association and discussed a series of measures that Lebanon must adopt to prevent the financing of "Hamas" and "terrorist organizations", in addition to combating money laundering.

It expressed its concern regarding the parallel economy of Hezbollah and its scale and ability to finance terrorist operations, enabling it to play a more significant military role in the region, especially in war.

The delegation was serious in its warnings, emphasizing that it is not possible to rank these measures between important and more important, but they are all important and must be implemented quickly. It alerted against the consequences of these dangerous violations, especially in the context of the expansion of the cash economy, an expansion that concerns Americans as it allows the infiltration of financing of terrorist organizations, in addition to money laundering in general.

Monetary authorities in Lebanon sent a fast response to the delegation from the U.S. Department of the Treasury, to express the importance of the Americans' warnings and take them seriously. Thus, on the same day of the arrival of the Treasury delegation, the Bank of Lebanon organized a training session for money changers on financial compliance and surveillance and control of terrorism financing by international laws.