According to the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report, Lebanon ranks fourth in a list of the countries with the “safest” banks:
…the medal for bank soundness goes to Canada, followed by New Zealand, Australia, Lebanon, and Chile, rounding out the top five countries with the safest banks, cited by the Wall Street Journal.
Though this piece of information is unlikely to provide solace to people in Lebanon who have to use the services of these ‘safe banks’. Chahe, Sietske and adiamondinsunlight can vouch for that.
BBC News: Lebanon immune to financial crisis
Interesting since Global Finance just released their list of top 50 safest banks in the world and the only Arab bank to make the list is Kuwait’s NBK…
http://www.gfmag.com/tools/best-banks/10533-worlds-50-safest-banks-2010.html
Ha ha….Yes, they are among the world’s most well-managed banks in one of the worst-managed countries. I would say the big picture is that it is a wash, and they are average!
Mark, that’s the great thing about statistics and lists – pick the factors that suit you, develop a ranking system and come out with your own analysis.
OH, I wish they were even average. I banked with Credit Libanais for five years (2000 to 2005) and during that whole time, their “Pay you Credit Card” online was labelled as “Coming Soon”. I wouldn’t be surprised if its still a work-in-progress.