¤BDL circular 137 implementing the US law

On 3 May 2016 the Banque du Liban issued intermediate circular 137 obliging the banks to apply the American law, and the banks began closing the accounts of individuals and institutions linked to Hezbollah; the party counted it an aggression against its community.

Note: These are unilateral measures outside the framework of the Security Council, whose effect extends beyond the territory of the state that issues them, and the General Assembly and the Human Rights Council have repeatedly condemned "unilateral coercive measures". When a Lebanese bank is closed or a politician punished by a foreign administrative decision without a trial in Lebanon, compliance with the US Treasury becomes in practice higher than Lebanese law, and the Banque du Liban and the banks turn into executors of a foreign policy. The state's failure to apply its own laws against money laundering and corruption makes matters worse, leaving the vacuum to others.