Planning to open an Offshore Bank Account for Yourself or your Company ?

• SFM has extensive experience with both private as well as corporate bank account opening in 18 key banking jurisdictions,with over 40 of the world’s leading top tier banks
• Provides maximum confidentiality.
• SFM is recognized as a partner by banks with the highest quality reputation and a long track record of financial excellence. A rigorous application and drafting procedure is applied before a bank has the opportunity to cater its services to SFM’s international clientele
• SFM is partnered with banks that have guaranteed low fee structures, and a customer focused approach.

What Banking facilities are available?

Lebanon

The Lebanese Republic is a western Asian country, bordered by Syria and Israel. It is a country that is well known for its history of religious and ethnic diversity, which dates back to the third millennium BC. Lebanon gained its independence from France in 1941.

Banking in Lebanon

Lebanon is well known for its excellent confidentiality and top quality private banking system. Lebanon is not a member of OECD and did not sign any agreements for information exchange with any country whatsoever.

History

The earliest evidence of Lebanese civilization dates back more than seven thousand years. Lebanon was the home of the Phoenicians, was rules by the Roman Empire, and eventually came to be ruled by the Ottoman Empire, after falling under the rule of France. Lebanon is an independent country since 1941.

Lebanon’s economy follows a laissez-faire model, with a big part of its economy being dollarized. The Lebanese economy grew 8% in 2008 and 9% in 2009 despite the global recession. The economy is made up of financial services, commodities trading agriculture, and small business. The commodities market in Lebanon includes substantial gold coin production.

Banking Institutions

Lebanon has 50 commercial banks, 123 authorized custodians, and several hundred licensed money service businesses. The Banque du Liban (B.D.L.) is the Territory's single financial services Regulator.

Laws and Regulations

As a well-known offshore financial centre among those in-the-know, Lebanon enjoys one of the more prosperous economies of the region, with annual GDP growth consistently close to double digit percentages. The territory is not part of the OECD, the European Union and not subject to any information exchange law. The Banque du Liban (B.D.L.) is the Territory's single financial services Regulator.

Bank Secrecy

In 2015 it was once again confirmed by the Lebanese government and the central bank, that Lebanon will not abandon its banking secrecy law and will not cooperate with any nations in the exchange of information, but will fight against money laundering by its own laws. The IMF estimated in 2015 that Lebanon holds hundreds of billions USD in assets and deposits because of tight secrecy. Due to its secrecy and high quality banking infrastructure, it is a favoured location to hold bank accounts for businesses and individuals worldwide.

Electronic Payments

Lebanon is a member of the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT). The SWIFT network is the safest and most secure system for financial transactions worldwide.

Banking Facilities

SFM has a relationship with an extensive network of private and major banks in Lebanon. All of the banks we refer our customers to offer a full international banking platform, with multi-currency accounts (£, € & $) as well with online banking and debit/credit cards.

Once your order has been completed, you will be assigned a dedicated account manager that will guide you through the bank account opening procedure. Then, we will carefully select with you a bank from one of our leading partners that perfectly fits your requirements like a tailored suit.

Which documents are needed to open a bank account?

As a general rule the bank asks for a certified copy of the shareholder's and director's passport (beneficial owner), as well as recent proof of residence which, must be less than three months old. If the client goes to the bank in person to open the account, a certified copy of the passport is not required.

We will send you the additional documents necessary for opening the account by email, as an attachment, for you to sign and return to us preferably by special courier ( DHL, FedEx or Chronopost), along with the other documents mentioned above.