In the Depositors’ Lawsuit against Lebanese Banks: Abu-Ghazaleh to Al Jadeed TV: Those who caused losses should bear the burden of such losses, not the depositors
AMMAN – HE Dr. Talal Abu-Ghazaleh, founder and chairman of Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Global (TAG.Global) said that any losses at banks should be borne by those who caused them, not the depositors.
In an interview with Lebanon-based Al Jadeed TV via zoom, Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh affirmed that depositors who contributed to boosting the national economy of Lebanon should never bear banks’ losses; on the contrary, those who caused the losses are the ones to bear.
The interview came following Lebanon’s Depositors' Outcry Association and United for Lebanon decision to entrust Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh to file a lawsuit on their behalf within a legal framework in order to reclaim and gain access to their frozen funds with interest; funds accrued for several years in the Lebanese banks.
Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh stated that he accepted to proceed with the lawsuit on behalf of the depositors based on their request, and he never imposed himself in this regard: “They asked me to proceed with this lawsuit and out of my love to Lebanon I accepted this responsibility”. He addressed those who incurred losses that they will face the rules of the criminal, commercial and economic laws which would compel them to honor depositors’ right to regain all their assets with the accrued interest over the entire period.
Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh stressed that individuals who caused the losses should bear full responsibility for their actions. The depositors should be entitled to recover all their deposits and should not be required to share the burden for a problem they had nothing to do with it.
Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh further emphasized that depositors rights are not indivisible and there is no difference between a large or a small deposit, as all lawsuits should be handled in accordance with the the same standards. He indicated that depositors, regardless of the amount of their deposited funds, are not obliged to lose any part of their money, based on the signed-deposit contract that sets the terms, determines the interest, as well as the method of repayment. We have legal contracts, he said.
He further affirmed that the government should be held accountable if Lebanon's banks and the central bank failed to pay back the rights of depositors, adding that neither the government nor the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have the right to categorize depositors or negotiate on their behalf under the HairCut concept, which is against laws and contracts.
It should be noted that Lebanon’s Depositors' Outcry Association and United for Lebanon have previously announced that they authorize Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh, based on his strong abilities locally and internationally in handling this serious issue, and in light of his good ties with the United Nations, the World Bank, and the IMF, to proceed with a lawsuit and to reclaim their frozen funds.
More than 500,000 Lebanese depositors have been unable to access their forcibly detained funds in banks.