Triangle held a public seminar at the office of SMEX, a digital rights NGO, entitled “Pressure Points: Can Foreign Pressure Finally Bring Lebanon’s Financial Elites to the Table?” 

The event examined how Lebanon’s politico-banking class has evaded responsibility for the country’s economic collapse and explored legal and diplomatic avenues for depositors to recover savings.  

Nizar Ghanem, Triangle’s director of research, moderated a panel featuring human rights lawyer Diala Chehade and independent financial analyst Ali Noureddine. The seminar drew inspiration from two of Triangle’s recent policy papers: “Driving Disaster: Lebanon’s Shadow Financial Plan” and “See You In Court: Foreign Legal Pressure Can Corner Lebanon’s Elites.” 

Discussion Points: 

Origins of the Banking Collapse:  

• Presented by Ali Noureddine, co-author of “Driving Disaster: Lebanon’s Shadow Financial Plan” 
• Discussed how the Banque du Liban, the Lebanese state, and domestic commercial banks had precipitated the crisis through various forms of misconduct and several financial engineering schemes. 

Legal Avenues for Depositors: 

• Presented by Diala Chehade, drawing from Triangle’s “See You in Court: Foreign Legal Pressure Can Corner Lebanon’s Elites”. 
• Emphasized the unlawful nature of Lebanon’s capital controls regime. 
• Explored legal and diplomatic strategies for depositors to exert foreign pressure on Lebanese banking elites to negotiate a fair distribution of financial losses. 

This seminar built on insights from Triangle’s policy papers and aimed to equip Lebanese depositors with knowledge on potential recourse beyond domestic legal and financial institutions.