Beirut: Banks in Lebanon could be flouting laws — or at least the spirit of it — by restricting the weekly amount a citizen can debit from his account. And account holders are well within their rights to pursue claims against such banks, legal sources say. “A big part of what banks have been doing are based on unauthorised and unilateral decisions,” said Zeina Mouanness, a lawyer. “They cannot apply such precautionary measures without clear regulations.” Last month, the Lebanese Central Bank set a limit of $1,000 as weekly withdrawals of cash and another limit on online transfers. ATMs have stopped dispensing US dollars even before the popular protests erupted in the country on October 17. Banks have been applying random caps on weekly cash withdrawals, varying between $100 to $500.
Reclaim their rights So, what can the ordinary Lebanese citizen do? They could look at any of three options. “They could launch a bankruptcy lawsuit against the banks for failing to pay them the amounts requested,” said Mouanness. “They could lodge a breach of trust [criminal case] against the bank. “The third type of legal procedure is lodging a lawsuit before a judge on an urgent basis demanding the bank pay their money in cash. As per the first two procedures, a claimant could also request the court to impose a provisional seizure against the bank’s assets to ensure that the claimants’ money remains safe and untouched.” According to Joceline Al-Rai, another Lebanese lawyer, people also need to read the contracts with their banks. “Clients and depositors have the right to take legal action against their banks and reclaim their money … however, they need to review the clauses included in the contracts they signed upon opening their accounts. Unfortunately, the majority of clients sign those contracts blindly and without reading those clauses thoroughly,” Al-Rai told Gulf News.