Banks in Lebanon have said they will close for three days next week, after depositors stormed several branches on Friday, holding employees hostage and forcibly demanding to withdraw their savings.
It started with a man armed with a toy gun holding up a bank in south Lebanon and refusing to release hostages until he was given access to his trapped savings.
A few hours later another man ― aided by a group of associates ― stormed a bank in a working class Beirut neighbourhood. Then news of a third bank hold-up broke out. And a fourth.
At least five such raids were carried out by depositors across Lebanon, the latest in a series of hold-ups conducted by people who have taken the law into their own hands in a desperate bid to recoup their trapped savings from the country's commercial banks.
Financial institutions across the country have imposed withdrawal limits, amid a financial crisis.
Friday's raids came only a day after a lobby group called on depositors to take matters into their own hands to retrieve their frozen savings.
The 'Depositor's Outcry' ― a hardline depositors advocacy group ― assisted in at least one raid earlier this week. Members of the group held up a Blom Bank branch in Beirut alongside a woman, Sally Hafez, as she demanded access to savings to pay for her sister’s cancer treatment. She successfully withdrew $13,000 by force.
The Association of Banks in Lebanon (ABL) announced a three-day strike set to begin next week in protest against the depositors' actions.
The industry body, which represents the vast majority of the country's banks, denounced the incidents and called on the government to pass laws to address the economic crisis as quickly as possible.
A representative of the ABL told The National that, together with the banks, it was holding talks with the Interior Ministry, aimed at persuading the government to take steps towards protecting bank employees from potential violence.
"Other than that each bank is taking its own decision regarding how it will protect itself," said ABL representative Jessy Trad.
As the bank heists continued to gain traction throughout the day, caretaker Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi called for an emergency meeting with security forces to discuss measures that could be taken, the state's National News Agency reported.
On Friday morning, the man with the toy gun was arrested after storming a branch of Byblos Bank in the southern city of Ghazieh to demand his savings, making out with $20,000.
In a video circulated on social media, Muhammad Reda Korkmaz proudly leaned out of a car window as he was driven into police custody.
"I got it!" he proclaimed to onlookers.
In the Tariq Al Jdideh neighbourhood of Beirut, Abed Soubra and his associates entered a Blom Bank branch and demanded at least $120,000 of his savings.
A third man armed with a pellet gun also stormed a branch of LGB Bank in Beirut's posh Ramlet Al Baida area of Beirut requesting to withdraw his $50,000 in savings.
A fourth reportedly tried to forcibly withdraw his savings from Fransabank in Baaqrif.
Outside the Blom Bank in Tariq Al Jdideh, people gathered in support of Abed Soubra as he demanded his savings of $125,000.
Supporters of Mr Soubra clambered on top of an ATM, passing him coffee and snacks through the bank's second-storey window.
From his perch on the ATM a proudly self-professed accomplice, Fadi Zajour, turned to the crowd gathered outside.
“He says they offered to give him $40,000 at the rate of 12,000," he shouted down.
The crowd laughed in derision.
The Lebanese currency’s value has plummeted in value by more than 95 per cent since 2019. The bank's offer would have been less than half of what Mr Soubra's savings are worth.
"Abed don't you dare leave the bank until you get all your money," an onlooker called out.
In 2019, commercial banks informally imposed their own capital controls following the collapse of the nation’s financial system and the onset of a severe economic crisis that has left two-thirds of Lebanon's population destitute. People overnight found themselves locked out of their bank accounts and unable to access the majority of their own savings.
The national currency’s plunge was accompanied by soaring inflation, making life expensive and difficult for many. Capital is scarce for the cash-strapped state, but as political leaders continue to quibble over enacting the necessary reforms required for an international bailout, the central bank’s remaining dollar reserves continue to dwindle.
Legal attempts by depositors to withdraw their savings from their accounts have so far been thwarted. Banks have closed branches in protest against judicial orders to release money into the hands of customers, while the judiciary itself is often incapacitated and barely operational.
Fouad Debs, a lawyer and the co-head of the Lebanese Depositors Union, told The National the hold-ups were a natural reaction to "the political and financial elite that have abducted the judiciary and security forces to work for their own protection, rather than the people's."
The Depositors Union is another group that advocates for the release of deposits and frequently provides legal aid for depositors who resort to desperate measures.
"People are desperate after three years, and we're seeing the manifestation of that," Mr Debs said.
Sabri Sallem, who had gathered to watch the events in Tariq Jdideh unfold, told The National Mr Soubra was a well-known merchant in the district who had fallen on hard times after Lebanon's financial crash three years ago.
"He's in debt. He is not a terrorist," he said. "People want their money back."
An elderly man next to him, Issam Mahdi, said he was worried about his niece ― a bank manager and one of the staff taken hostage.
“She's just an employee. She can't do anything," he told The National. "But at the same time I understand and I empathise with them. My own money is trapped in the bank."
"I wish I could do something like this but because of my reputation — I'm a retired officer — I can't.”
The Depositor's Outcry group have vowed to orchestrate more bank hold-ups with anyone seeking to unlock their frozen savings from the the nation’s commercial banks.
"Sally Hafez was just the start of the revolution," said Ibrahim Abdullah, a member of the group, at a press conference on Thursday.
"It won't end until we get all our money."
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MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, second leg
Real Madrid (2) v Bayern Munich (1)
Where: Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid
When: 10.45pm, Tuesday
Watch Live: beIN Sports HD
What can you do?
Document everything immediately; including dates, times, locations and witnesses
Seek professional advice from a legal expert
You can report an incident to HR or an immediate supervisor
You can use the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation’s dedicated hotline
In criminal cases, you can contact the police for additional support
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Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett
Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina
Rating: 4/5
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
How to play the stock market recovery in 2021?
If you are looking to build your long-term wealth in 2021 and beyond, the stock market is still the best place to do it as equities powered on despite the pandemic.
Investing in individual stocks is not for everyone and most private investors should stick to mutual funds and ETFs, but there are some thrilling opportunities for those who understand the risks.
Peter Garnry, head of equity strategy at Saxo Bank, says the 20 best-performing US and European stocks have delivered an average return year-to-date of 148 per cent, measured in local currency terms.
Online marketplace Etsy was the best performer with a return of 330.6 per cent, followed by communications software company Sinch (315.4 per cent), online supermarket HelloFresh (232.8 per cent) and fuel cells specialist NEL (191.7 per cent).
Mr Garnry says digital companies benefited from the lockdown, while green energy firms flew as efforts to combat climate change were ramped up, helped in part by the European Union’s green deal.
Electric car company Tesla would be on the list if it had been part of the S&P 500 Index, but it only joined on December 21. “Tesla has become one of the most valuable companies in the world this year as demand for electric vehicles has grown dramatically,” Mr Garnry says.
By contrast, the 20 worst-performing European stocks fell 54 per cent on average, with European banks hit by the economic fallout from the pandemic, while cruise liners and airline stocks suffered due to travel restrictions.
As demand for energy fell, the oil and gas industry had a tough year, too.
Mr Garnry says the biggest story this year was the “absolute crunch” in so-called value stocks, companies that trade at low valuations compared to their earnings and growth potential.
He says they are “heavily tilted towards financials, miners, energy, utilities and industrials, which have all been hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic”. “The last year saw these cheap stocks become cheaper and expensive stocks have become more expensive.”
This has triggered excited talk about the “great value rotation” but Mr Garnry remains sceptical. “We need to see a breakout of interest rates combined with higher inflation before we join the crowd.”
Always remember that past performance is not a guarantee of future returns. Last year’s winners often turn out to be this year’s losers, and vice-versa.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Zimbabwe v UAE, ODI series
All matches at the Harare Sports Club:
1st ODI, Wednesday, April 10
2nd ODI, Friday, April 12
3rd ODI, Sunday, April 14
4th ODI, Tuesday, April 16
UAE squad: Mohammed Naveed (captain), Rohan Mustafa, Ashfaq Ahmed, Shaiman Anwar, Mohammed Usman, CP Rizwan, Chirag Suri, Mohammed Boota, Ghulam Shabber, Sultan Ahmed, Imran Haider, Amir Hayat, Zahoor Khan, Qadeer Ahmed
List of alleged parties
May 15 2020: PM and Carrie attend 'work meeting' with at
least 17 staff members
May 20 2020: PM and Carrie attend 'bring your own booze'
party
Nov 27 2020: PM gives speech at leaving do for his staff
Dec 10 2020: Staff party held by then-education secretary
Gavin Williamson
Dec 13 2020: PM and Carrie throw a flat party
Dec 14 2020: London mayor candidate Shaun Bailey holds staff party at Conservative
Party headquarters
Dec 15 2020: PM takes part in a staff quiz
Dec 18 2020: Downing Street Christmas party
Zayed Sustainability Prize
Key facilities
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- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Huddersfield Town permanent signings:
- Steve Mounie (striker): signed from Montpellier for £11 million
- Tom Ince (winger): signed from Derby County for £7.7m
- Aaron Mooy (midfielder): signed from Manchester City for £7.7m
- Laurent Depoitre (striker): signed from Porto for £3.4m
- Scott Malone (defender): signed from Fulham for £3.3m
- Zanka (defender): signed from Copenhagen for £2.3m
- Elias Kachunga (winger): signed for Ingolstadt for £1.1m
- Danny WIlliams (midfielder): signed from Reading on a free transfer
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'Top Gun: Maverick'
Rating: 4/5
Directed by: Joseph Kosinski
Starring: Tom Cruise, Val Kilmer, Jennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm, Miles Teller, Glen Powell, Ed Harris
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
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Points about the fast fashion industry Celine Hajjar wants everyone to know
- Fast fashion is responsible for up to 10 per cent of global carbon emissions
- Fast fashion is responsible for 24 per cent of the world's insecticides
- Synthetic fibres that make up the average garment can take hundreds of years to biodegrade
- Fast fashion labour workers make 80 per cent less than the required salary to live
- 27 million fast fashion workers worldwide suffer from work-related illnesses and diseases
- Hundreds of thousands of fast fashion labourers work without rights or protection and 80 per cent of them are women
Sholto Byrnes on Myanmar politics
More on Coronavirus in France
Start-up hopes to end Japan's love affair with cash
Across most of Asia, people pay for taxi rides, restaurant meals and merchandise with smartphone-readable barcodes — except in Japan, where cash still rules. Now, as the country’s biggest web companies race to dominate the payments market, one Tokyo-based startup says it has a fighting chance to win with its QR app.
Origami had a head start when it introduced a QR-code payment service in late 2015 and has since signed up fast-food chain KFC, Tokyo’s largest cab company Nihon Kotsu and convenience store operator Lawson. The company raised $66 million in September to expand nationwide and plans to more than double its staff of about 100 employees, says founder Yoshiki Yasui.
Origami is betting that stores, which until now relied on direct mail and email newsletters, will pay for the ability to reach customers on their smartphones. For example, a hair salon using Origami’s payment app would be able to send a message to past customers with a coupon for their next haircut.
Quick Response codes, the dotted squares that can be read by smartphone cameras, were invented in the 1990s by a unit of Toyota Motor to track automotive parts. But when the Japanese pioneered digital payments almost two decades ago with contactless cards for train fares, they chose the so-called near-field communications technology. The high cost of rolling out NFC payments, convenient ATMs and a culture where lost wallets are often returned have all been cited as reasons why cash remains king in the archipelago. In China, however, QR codes dominate.
Cashless payments, which includes credit cards, accounted for just 20 per cent of total consumer spending in Japan during 2016, compared with 60 per cent in China and 89 per cent in South Korea, according to a report by the Bank of Japan.
Company%C2%A0profile
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RESULTS
Welterweight
Tohir Zhuraev (TJK) beat Mostafa Radi (PAL)
(Unanimous points decision)
Catchweight 75kg
Anas Siraj Mounir (MAR) beat Leandro Martins (BRA)
(Second round knockout)
Flyweight (female)
Manon Fiorot (FRA) beat Corinne Laframboise (CAN)
(RSC in third round)
Featherweight
Bogdan Kirilenko (UZB) beat Ahmed Al Darmaki
(Disqualification)
Lightweight
Izzedine Al Derabani (JOR) beat Rey Nacionales (PHI)
(Unanimous points)
Featherweight
Yousef Al Housani (UAE) beat Mohamed Fargan (IND)
(TKO first round)
Catchweight 69kg
Jung Han-gook (KOR) beat Max Lima (BRA)
(First round submission by foot-lock)
Catchweight 71kg
Usman Nurmogamedov (RUS) beat Jerry Kvarnstrom (FIN)
(TKO round 1).
Featherweight title (5 rounds)
Lee Do-gyeom (KOR) v Alexandru Chitoran (ROU)
(TKO round 1).
Lightweight title (5 rounds)
Bruno Machado (BRA) beat Mike Santiago (USA)
(RSC round 2).
Champions parade (UAE timings)
7pm Gates open
8pm Deansgate stage showing starts
9pm Parade starts at Manchester Cathedral
9.45pm Parade ends at Peter Street
10pm City players on stage
11pm event ends
SUZUME
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge – Rally schedule:
Saturday: Super Special Spectator Stage – Yas Marina Circuit – start 3.30pm.
Sunday: Yas Marina Circuit Stage 1 (276.01km)
Monday: Nissan Stage 2 (287.92km)
Tuesday: Al Ain Water Stage 3 (281.38km)
Wednesday: ADNOC Stage 4 (244.49km)
Thursday: Abu Dhabi Aviation Stage 5 (218.57km) Finish: Yas Marina Circuit – 4.30pm.
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Company%20profile
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Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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1.
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United States
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2.
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China
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3.
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UAE
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4.
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Japan
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5
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Norway
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6.
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Canada
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Singapore
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Australia
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Saudi Arabia
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South Korea
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Book%20Details
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