31-07-2025
Parliament under pressure begins review of banking resolution draft law
BEIRUT — The Parliament meeting Thursday at Nejmeh Square, opened a plenary session at 11 a.m. that could prove decisive for the near future of negotiations Lebanon is conducting toward a program with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Among the five items on the agenda is the highly anticipated draft law on banking resolution, which aims to establish a framework for restructuring a sector where the majority of institutions have been technically bankrupt since the crisis began in late 2019. This law will also regulate the restructuring process of insolvent banks.
The adoption of this law is part of the IMF's requirements, first outlined during the early contacts initiated by the government of Hassan Diab in 2020. However, it has so far faced resistance from parts of the banking sector and the political class, who argue that the financial system's crisis is systemic and that it is the State — and thus indirectly the taxpayer — that should recapitalize the banks.
The draft law, which spent many weeks in a subcommittee before being approved by the Finance Committee and submitted to joint parliamentary committees, is the last of five bills and proposals that MPs planned to review today. Earlier in July, the IMF issued comments suggesting further changes before the vote. According to a source close to Parliament, the United States relayed a message through its embassy in Lebanon urging lawmakers to consider the IMF's suggestions. Other foreign partners, such as France, are also reportedly pushing for the bill to be passed today — even with shortcomings — with the possibility of amending it later.
Commercial leases, pharmacists, and compensation
Before discussing the banking bill, MPs held a minute of silence in memory of Ziad Rahbani, the iconic Lebanese artist who died on July 26.
They then adopted amendments introduced by the Administration and Justice Committee to the controversial law liberalizing non-residential leases (Law No. 11 of June 12, 2025). These amendments were presented as efforts to rebalance legislation governing old commercial leases.
MPs also approved a separate law modifying the conditions for granting management allowances to public school principals.
Additionally, a proposal to amend paragraph B of Article 37 of Law No. 367 — which governs the pharmacy profession and currently prohibits pharmacists from advertising medicinal plants and other therapeutic products — was sent back to committee.
Lastly, a draft law on judicial organization — a key component of long-awaited justice reforms Lebanon is expected to undertake — was also on the agenda. However, its review was postponed to the evening session at the request of Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, to incorporate elements of a proposal submitted by the Administration and Justice Committee into the government's version of the text, in a bid to harmonize the two.
