Banque Du Liban (BDL) documents requested by two auditing firms, Oliver Wyman and KPMG, will soon undergo financial and accounting auditing.
This is not to be confused with the documents that BDL is refusing to submit to forensic auditor Alvarez & Marsal, on the basis that it’ll be in breach of banking secrecy laws.
On Wednesday, BDL announced that it had submitted requested documents to Oliver Wyman and KPMG “as it does not conflict with applicable Lebanese law.”
However, the two firms will merely conduct regular auditing of BDL accounts, but will not touch into the long-demanded forensic auditing as Alvarez & Marsal intended.
Essentially, the regular financial audit will not be able to uncover anything suspicious, which is what the public has been waiting for, such as where did all the money go?
BDL argues that handing over certain documents to Alvarez & Marsal would conflict with banking secrecy and money and credit laws, according to local media.
In September, and after much waiting, Lebanon’s Finance Minister finally signed the contracts with Alvarez & Marsal to conduct a forensic audit of BDL, and KPMG and Oliver Wyman for regular financial auditing.
Cooperating from one end and blocking the path on another, BDL is now working hard at pushing back to the forensic audit.
