On March 27th, 2025, the Central Bank issued intermediate circular 733 (Decision 13716) concerning exceptional restrictions on some of the operations performed by banks in Lebanon. The first operation that the circular tackled is the purchase of foreign currencies from the parallel market or from financial institutions and certified exchange offices. The article states that the spread between buy and sell prices or any other extraordinary commissions should not exceed 1%.
The second operation that this circular tackled is the selling of non-fresh foreign currencies. It stated that banks are allowed to sell non-fresh foreign currencies either directly or indirectly to the Central Bank only.
The third operation handled in this circular is the trading of stocks listed on Beirut Stock Exchange (BSE) and Lebanese Eurobonds. It indicated that banks should only trade stock listed on BSE, Eurobonds and other securities in foreign currencies on fresh basis or its equivalent in Lebanese pounds at the exchange rate specified by the Central bank’s platform.
The last issue mentioned in the circular is that the banks should obtain a prior approval from the Central Bank before selling Lebanese Eurobonds abroad.
The circular is effective upon issuance and to be published in the official Gazette.
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