Lebanon charges banker, money changers in currency crisis probe

the local currency has plummeted from 1,507 to more than 4,000 pounds to the dollar. (AP)
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Updated 22 May 2020
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Lebanon charges banker, money changers in currency crisis probe

  • Nine people in total faced the same charges

BEIRUT: A Lebanese prosecutor charged a bank manager and money changers with manipulating the exchange rate and money laundering on Thursday in an currency crisis probe, official sources said.

Lebanon is in the midst of its worst economic crunch in decades, compounded by a coronavirus lockdown.

Banks have gradually stopped all dollar withdrawals in recent months, and the local currency has plummeted from 1,507 to more than 4,000 pounds to the dollar on the black market.

“Financial prosecutor Ali Ibrahim charged the deputy head of the money changers’ union Elie S., as well as a number of senior money changers ... and a bank employee, with the crimes of violating the money changing law and money laundering,” among other charges, the National News Agency said.

Their cases have been referred to an investigative judge, it said.

Judicial sources told AFP nine people in total faced the same charges, also including “manipulating the exchange rate.”

Lebanon has detained dozens of foreign exchange office employees recently over the fast depreciating pound, including the head of the money changers’ union Mahmoud Mrad at the start of the month.


Saudi Tadawul Group Holding Co.’s Q4 net profit rises 16.4% to $25.63m

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Saudi Tadawul Group Holding Co.’s Q4 net profit rises 16.4% to $25.63m

RIYADH: Saudi Tadawul Group Holding Co. reported a net profit of SR96.2 million ($25.63 million) in the fourth quarter of 2025, representing an increase of 16.4 percent compared to the previous three months.

For the full year 2025, the company’s net profit stood at SR395.6 million, marking a decline of 36.38 percent compared to 2024, according to a Tadawul statement.

The firm attributed the drop in annual net profit to a decrease in revenues from trading services and post-trade services, resulting from a 30.6 percent decline in average daily trading values.

Despite witnessing a drop in net profit for the whole year 2025, Group CEO of Saudi Tadawul Group Holding Co., Khalid Abdullah Al-Hussan, expressed optimism and said that the financial results demonstrated the strength of the firm’s operating model and its ability to deliver balanced and sustainable growth, supported by continued progress in diversifying revenue streams and enhanced operational resilience.

“We continued executing our strategic priorities through the launch of a new product set, enhancing capital market infrastructure, and accelerating our data and technology capabilities to reinforce the Saudi capital market as a leading regional and global financial center,” said Al-Hussan.

Saudi Tadawul Group Holding Co., through its Capital Market Authority-authorized subsidiaries, is the primary provider of securities trading, clearing, and settlement in the Kingdom.
The organization also provides technology innovation services through one of its subsidiaries.

As a foundational pillar of the Kingdom’s economy and the Financial Sector Development Program under the nation’s Vision 2030, the group is helping Saudi Arabia build a thriving economy with a technologically advanced and integrated capital market at its center.

The group’s total revenue for 2025 was SR1.26 billion, representing a 12.82 percent decline compared to the previous year.

The company achieved revenues amounting to SR638.7 million from the post-trade services sector, followed by the capital market at SR373.7 million, and the data and technology service segment at SR248.9 million.

Post-trade services were the company’s largest revenue driver at SR638.7 million, followed by the capital market segment at SR373.7 million and data and technology services at SR248.9 million.

The statement further said that total shareholders’ equity after minority interest amounted to SR3.44 billion as of Dec. 31, compared to SR3.49 billion in a year earlier period.
In a separate statement, the company said that its board of directors to distribute a cash dividend of 23 percent, or SR2.30 per share, for 2025.