Middle East · public research route

Lebanon

Lebanon is organized here as a Middle East research route covering 8 public-policy areas. The route begins with Financial Services, Sovereign Debt, Oil & Gas (offshore Eastern Mediterranean).

Executive summary

This page is a structured research guide to institutions, public frameworks, and possible lines of inquiry in Lebanon. It supports rapid orientation and identifies where current primary-source verification is required.

Research-use notice. This material is for research and educational use. Information may be incomplete or out of date. Verify primary sources, current law, institutional authority, source dates, and local applicability before acting. This site does not provide legal, financial, investment, regulatory, or implementation advice.

Financial Services

Insider / Whistleblower

  • Support the Alvarez & Marsal forensic audit by providing internal bank records
  • Report capital flight data to the Special Investigation Commission
  • Document through investigative journalism channels (Lebanon has relatively free press)

SIC (Special Investigation Commission) — Lebanon's financial intelligence unit. BDL (Banque du Liban / Central Bank) — the central bank whose financial engineering scheme is at the center of the crisis. Note: Lebanon has some of the region's strongest press freedom.

Investor / Capital Allocator

  • Banks: Cooperate fully with forensic audit
  • Disclose beneficial ownership of related-party lending
  • Accept bail-in restructuring rather than socializing losses

ABL (Association of Banks in Lebanon) — represents 60+ banks. BDL — the central bank. Lebanon's banking sector losses are estimated at $72B+.

Regulator / Agency

  • BDL: Complete the forensic audit of central bank operations
  • Banking Control Commission: Enforce capital controls equitably
  • Ministry of Finance: Implement IMF reform conditions

Banking Control Commission — the banking supervisor. IMF — Lebanon reached a staff-level agreement in 2022 but reforms remain unimplemented.

Policymakers / Treaty Forum

  • Advocate through international mechanisms for completion of the forensic audit
  • Support IMF program conditionality on banking sector transparency
  • Push for international asset recovery of illicitly transferred funds
  • Support Lebanese civil society accountability initiatives

Note: Lebanon's parliament (128 members, elected on confessional basis) is functional but deeply divided. The political system is paralyzed by sectarian power-sharing. International channels: IMF, World Bank, CEDRE conference donors, French-led international support group.

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Sovereign Debt

Insider / Whistleblower

  • Central bank and finance ministry staff document undisclosed reserve depletion and off-balance-sheet liabilities
  • Disclose the real distribution of who bore losses versus who exited capital before controls

Banque du Liban, Ministry of Finance, Lebanese Court of Audit (Diwan al-Muhasaba)

Investor / Capital Allocator

  • Eurobond holders form a creditor committee and accept a realistic haircut tied to a credible reform path
  • Condition any new financing on a published macro framework rather than rolling over distressed debt

Eurobond creditor committees, Capital Markets Authority of Lebanon, international bondholder groups

Regulator / Agency

  • Ministry of Finance publishes a single audited debt and arrears register
  • Banque du Liban Banking Control Commission enforces bank recapitalization or resolution

Ministry of Finance, Banque du Liban, Banking Control Commission of Lebanon

Policymakers / Treaty Forum

  • IMF ties an Extended Fund Facility disbursement to enacted reform prior actions
  • World Bank conditions sector reconstruction loans on the same audited framework

International Monetary Fund, World Bank, Paris Club

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Oil & Gas (offshore Eastern Mediterranean)

Insider / Whistleblower

  • Petroleum Administration and operator staff expose contract terms that under-collect public royalties
  • Flag environmental or safety shortcuts in drilling permits

Lebanese Petroleum Administration, TotalEnergies and partner consortium, Ministry of Energy and Water

Investor / Capital Allocator

  • Consortium operators commit to published production-sharing terms and EITI reporting
  • Lenders condition project finance on transparent revenue management

TotalEnergies, Eni, QatarEnergy consortium, project-finance lenders

Regulator / Agency

  • Lebanese Petroleum Administration enforces local content and environmental conditions
  • Ministry of Finance designs a transparent gas revenue framework

Lebanese Petroleum Administration, Ministry of Energy and Water, Ministry of Finance

Policymakers / Treaty Forum

  • EITI admits Lebanon and audits revenue disclosures
  • Barcelona Convention bodies set offshore environmental standards for the Eastern Mediterranean

Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, UNEP Mediterranean Action Plan / Barcelona Convention

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Tobacco

Insider / Whistleblower

  • Régie and health ministry staff expose non-enforcement of Law 174 and marketing to youth
  • Disclose the conflict between the state's manufacturing revenue and its health mandate

Régie Libanaise des Tabacs et Tombacs, Ministry of Public Health

Investor / Capital Allocator

  • Health insurers and reinsurers price the smoking burden into premiums and lobby for enforcement
  • Development lenders condition health financing on tobacco control milestones

Lebanese private health insurers, Capital Markets Authority of Lebanon

Regulator / Agency

  • Ministry of Public Health enforces smoke-free venue and advertising rules
  • Ministry of Finance raises and indexes tobacco excise

Ministry of Public Health, Ministry of Finance

Policymakers / Treaty Forum

  • WHO holds Lebanon to its Framework Convention on Tobacco Control reporting obligations
  • WHO supports waterpipe-specific taxation and warning standards

World Health Organization, WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Secretariat

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Plastics

Insider / Whistleblower

  • Municipal and environment ministry staff document illegal dumping and open burning sites
  • Expose contractors paid for waste services not delivered

Ministry of Environment, municipal councils, Council for Development and Reconstruction

Investor / Capital Allocator

  • Development banks fund recycling and sorting infrastructure tied to extended-producer-responsibility revenue
  • Importers and beverage producers fund take-back schemes to avoid liability

World Bank, European Investment Bank, Lebanese plastics and beverage importers

Regulator / Agency

  • Ministry of Environment enforces Law 80/2018 and dump-closure orders
  • Customs applies single-use plastic import levies

Ministry of Environment, Lebanese Customs, municipalities

Policymakers / Treaty Forum

  • Barcelona Convention bodies enforce Mediterranean marine-litter targets
  • UNEP supports the global plastics treaty negotiations Lebanon participates in

UNEP Mediterranean Action Plan / Barcelona Convention, UN Environment Programme

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Groundwater Depletion

Insider / Whistleblower

  • Water establishment staff map unlicensed wells and document aquifer salinization
  • Expose political protection of unlicensed tanker and drilling operations

Ministry of Energy and Water, Beirut Mount Lebanon Water Establishment, Litani River Authority

Investor / Capital Allocator

  • Development lenders finance utility rehabilitation conditioned on metering reform
  • Agricultural lenders back efficient irrigation to cut abstraction

World Bank, European Investment Bank, Kafalat agricultural finance

Regulator / Agency

  • Ministry of Energy and Water enforces well licensing and abstraction caps
  • Regional Water Establishments restore metered public supply

Ministry of Energy and Water, Regional Water Establishments

Policymakers / Treaty Forum

  • FAO supports aquifer monitoring and sustainable irrigation programs
  • UNDP funds water-sector strategy implementation

Food and Agriculture Organization, UN Development Programme

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Gambling (Casino du Liban)

Insider / Whistleblower

  • Casino and finance staff disclose under-reported revenue or politically directed payouts
  • Expose the absence of any harm-reduction program despite the public stake

Casino du Liban, Intra Investment Company, Ministry of Finance

Investor / Capital Allocator

  • State as shareholder demands harm-reduction conditions on dividends
  • Auditors require transparent revenue reporting as a condition of any refinancing

Intra Investment Company, Banque du Liban as legacy stakeholder, external auditors

Regulator / Agency

  • Ministry of Finance enforces license conditions and gambling-specific taxation
  • Ministry of Public Health mandates self-exclusion and treatment funding

Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Public Health

Policymakers / Treaty Forum

  • WHO provides problem-gambling treatment standards and surveillance guidance
  • FATF guidance is applied to casino anti-money-laundering controls

World Health Organization, Financial Action Task Force

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Fisheries / Overfishing (Eastern Mediterranean)

Insider / Whistleblower

  • Fisheries inspectors and cooperatives report dynamite fishing and quota evasion
  • Document sewage and pollution killing nearshore stocks

Ministry of Agriculture, fishermen's cooperatives, Lebanese Army Navy

Investor / Capital Allocator

  • Development funds back sustainable gear and cold-chain upgrades tied to compliance
  • Buyers and exporters require legal-catch certification

FAO project funding, Kafalat, seafood buyers and exporters

Regulator / Agency

  • Ministry of Agriculture enforces gear rules and licensing
  • Ministry of Environment protects marine reserves and water quality

Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Environment

Policymakers / Treaty Forum

  • GFCM sets binding catch limits and closures for shared stocks
  • Barcelona Convention bodies coordinate marine-protected-area and pollution targets

General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (FAO), UNEP Mediterranean Action Plan

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Research references

Use the public glossary for terminology and the selected publications and working papers for public evidence and methods.