The Regulation of Transfer Operations to and from BDL

Old No. 1480 | Text/Section /1 R /30 T 31-12-2022

∗ Basic Circular for Banks No. 30, also addressed to Financial Institutions

We enclose herewith a copy of Basic Decision No. 6367 dated 9/11/1996, concerning the regulation of transfer operations to and from BDL and the fixing of certain financial operations with it. ¹

Beirut, 9 November 1996 Governor of BDL: Riad T. Salamé

∗ Refers to Basic Decision No. 11081 dated 27/6/2012 (Basic Circular No. 127) concerning the Real-Time Gross Settlement System (RTGS – BDL/Settlement Gross Time Real), whose Article 13 states: "Regulatory provisions inconsistent with this Decision and its attached principles and rules are deemed repealed." ¹ - The title of this Decision was designated pursuant to Article 1 of Interim Decision No. 8922 dated 10/12/2004 (Interim Circular No. 73).

∗ Basic Decision No. 6367 Regulation of Transfer Operations to and from BDL, and Execution of Certain Financial Operations with It

The Governor of the Central Bank of Lebanon, Pursuant to the Monetary and Credit Law, particularly Article 174 thereof, And pursuant to the Central Council's decision taken in its meeting held on 6/11/1996,

Decides as follows:

Article 1: Private sector persons holding accounts at the Central Bank of Lebanon shall cease using written requests and comply with the procedures and rules specified in the subsequent articles of this Decision when:

• 1. Requesting transfer of Lebanese Lira (LBP) or any foreign currency from these accounts to other open accounts (in the same transfer currency) at BDL, or requesting transfer of funds from their BDL accounts to their foreign accounts, or funding their BDL accounts via incoming transfers from abroad.
• 2. Fixing deposit operations (CDs), secondary market operations, and Lebanese treasury bond sale/repo (Repurchase Agreement) operations.
• 3. Requesting transfer of Lebanese treasury bonds from account to account.

∗ Refers to Basic Decision No. 11081 dated 27/6/2012 (Basic Circular No. 127) concerning the Real-Time Gross Settlement System (RTGS – BDL/Settlement Gross Time Real), whose Article 13 states: "Regulatory provisions inconsistent with this Decision and its attached principles and rules are deemed repealed." ¹ - The title of this Decision was designated pursuant to Article 1 of Interim Decision No. 8922 dated 10/12/2004 (Interim Circular No. 73). ² - This article was amended pursuant to Article 2 of Interim Decision No. 8922 dated 10/12/2004 (Interim Circular No. 73). ³ - The preamble of this article was amended pursuant to Article 1 of Interim Decision No. 9171 dated 24/10/2005 (Interim Circular No. 95), effective from 2/1/2006.

Article 2: Regarding foreign currency transfers from BDL accounts: First: Banks and financial institutions must follow the following procedures:

• 1. Direct transfer requests to the Current Operations Department at BDL using the department's code: BDLCLBBXCOD.
• 2. Adopt SWIFT message templates as listed below:
  • 200MT for transferring funds to their account in another BDL branch.
  • 201MT for transferring funds to their accounts in several other BDL branches.
  • 202MT for transferring funds to any other main account open in the same branch at BDL.
  • 203-MT for transferring funds to several other main accounts open in the same branch at BDL.
  • 292-MT for cancellation request, provided BDL receives directly from the beneficiary a 299MT message confirming consent to this cancellation.
• 3. If an error exists in any message field, the sending party must cancel it and resend a new error-free message.
• 4. If the beneficiary is the Ministry of Finance or any public sector entity, complete and necessary details must be stated in field 72.

Second: If any obstacle prevents sending transfer requests via the SWIFT network, banks and financial institutions must follow these procedures:

• 1. Immediately notify the Current Operations Department by phone.
• 2. Support the phone notification with a signed written letter per principles, attached with templates listed below.
• 3. Send transfer requests in writing according to the attached templates:
  • Form (1) for transferring funds to their account in another BDL branch.
  • Form (2) for transferring funds to their accounts in several other BDL branches.
  • Form (3) for transferring funds to any other main account open in the same branch at BDL.
  • Form (4) for transferring funds to several other main accounts open in the same branch at BDL.
  • Form (14) for cancellation request and Form (15) for confirming beneficiary consent to cancellation.
• 4. Prepare these forms in two different-color copies, with the first copy mandatory white.
• 5. Do not sign transfer requests in black ink, under penalty of rejection.
• 6. Deliver transfer requests directly to the Current Operations Department where they are stamped (original and copy) with a stamp showing receipt date/time, assigned a serial number, and the second copy returned to the sender as proof of receipt.
• 7. State amounts in numbers and spell them out in letters. If the numerical amount differs from the spelled-out amount, execution follows the lower amount.

Article 3: Regarding foreign currency transfers from BDL accounts to abroad and from foreign accounts to BDL accounts: First: Banks and financial institutions must follow these procedures:

• 1. Direct transfer requests to the Exchange & Foreign Operations Department at BDL using the department's code: BDLCLBBXFXD.
• 2. Adopt SWIFT message templates as listed below:
  • 200MT for transferring funds from their accounts at BDL to their foreign accounts.
  • 201MT for transferring funds from their accounts at BDL to their foreign accounts in the same currency, same counterparty, and different clients.
  • 210MT for notifying BDL of transferring amounts to fund their accounts there via foreign correspondence. Second: If any obstacle prevents sending transfer requests via the SWIFT network:
• 1. Immediately notify the Exchange & Foreign Operations Department by phone.
• 2. Support with a signed written letter per principles, attached with templates below.
• 3. Send requests in writing:
  • Form (5) for transferring funds from BDL accounts to foreign accounts.
  • Form (6) for transferring funds from BDL accounts to foreign accounts in same currency, same counterparty, different clients.
  • Form (7) for notifying BDL of transferring amounts to fund their accounts there via foreign correspondence.
• 4. Prepare in two different-color copies, first mandatory white.
• 5. Do not sign in black ink, under penalty of rejection.
• 6. Deliver directly to the Foreign Operations Department secretary where stamped (original/copy) with date/time, assigned serial number, second copy returned as proof.
• 7. State amounts in numbers and spell out; execution follows lower amount if discrepancy.

Article 3 bis: Special rules for foreign currency transfers from BDL branches: Exception to Article 1, written signed requests are permitted when requesting execution of transfer operations with or via all BDL branches, according to principles in items (3) and (4) of "First" section and items 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 of "Second" section of Article 2.

Article 4: The transferor must refrain from:

• 1. Requesting execution on a date prior to the submission date.
• 2. Naming final beneficiaries for transfers via BDL accounts.
• 3. Transferring to/from abroad only for their own account.
• 4. Mentioning piastres in LBP amounts.
• 5. Sending requests with execution date exceeding 15 days from sending date.
• 6. Sending requests with execution date on the last working day of each year.
• 7. Transferring to/from BDL branches only for their own account.
• 8. Sending requests using specified forms.
• 9. Requesting cancellation or confirmation after fixed execution times for that date.

Article 5: Execution by the Current Operations Department per principles:

• 1. Requests for execution on a specific day must be delivered before 2 PM (except Fri/Sat, before 10 AM max). Late requests executed next working day; transferor may send after fixed times if for a future date. Banks/financial institutions get 30-min grace period for low liquidity or SWIFT failure during fixed times. During Ramadan, delivery before 1 PM (except Fri/Sat before 10 AM).
• 2. Current Operations Department executes requests first-in-first-out, provided liquidity exists in the orderer's account. Priority for single request with multiple beneficiaries follows name order.
• 3. Incoming transfer requests without specified beneficiary account number are credited to the main account; if specifying, must use IBAN (under penalty of rejection from 01/07/2010).

Article 6: Execution by the Exchange & Foreign Operations Department:

• 1. Deadlines: before 3 PM (except Fri before 11 AM) for USD. For other foreign currencies, within 24 hours of execution date. Late requests executed next day without reviewing the orderer.
• 2. No amount credited to foreign currency accounts upon receiving SWIFT message (210MT) before confirmation, unless beneficiary deposit balance in same currency equals/exceeds transferred amount.
• 3. Temporary deficit from executing orders, or booking a transfer for BDL on a later date than agreed, results in the orderer paying interest equal to 6-month SOFR Term plus ISDA Adjustment Spread plus 2% + $500 per violation, without affecting other laws/regulations.

Article 6 bis: Execution by BDL branches:

• a) Delivery deadlines for specific day before 1 PM (within branch or with HQ/other branches).
• b) Fri/Sat delivery: before 10 AM (within branch), before 9:30 AM (with HQ/other branches).

Article 7: Account holders must deposit names of responsible persons for transfers (with titles/phone numbers) to Current Operations, Exchange & Foreign Operations, and all BDL branches during January each year. Prompt notification of changes.

Article 8: Computer-issued transfer confirmations from BDL are sent unsigned.

Article 9: Fixing CDs, secondary market, repo of Lebanese treasury bonds, and account-to-account transfer requests by Financial Operations Department: First: Direct to department using code BDLCLBBXFOD. SWIFT templates: 320MT (CD), 515MT (buy/sell with BDL client confirmation), 320MT (sell/repo), 542MT (transfer). Second: SWIFT failure: phone notification, signed letter, forms (8-11), two-color copies, no black ink, stamped/dated/serial. Third: Timing for CDs/repo (same day before 4 PM, except Fri before 10:30 AM, Sat before 2 PM). Fourth: Account-to-account transfers (Mon-Thu before 1:30 PM, Fri before 10:30 AM, Sat before 2 PM).

Article 10: After BDL public accepts treasury bonds, original receipt sent to BDL with SWIFT message copy same day per Article 9 (fourth).

Article 11: Banks and financial institutions review transfer requests daily to ensure compliance and avoid errors/duplicates.

Article 12: Practically, it is recommended to send same-day transfer requests one hour before fixed receipt times.

Article 13: Banks and financial institutions are advised to notify beneficiaries of money transfers credited to their BDL accounts.

Article 14: BDL collects a fee determined by the Governor for each requested execution.

Article 15: Banks and financial institutions wanting electronic statements of all currency accounts at BDL must apply to the Legal Department for SWIFT 950 MT / OBBS service per forms (12) and (13).

Article 16: Circulars for Banks No. 117 (20/6/1973), No. 216 (25/2/1979), and No. 734 (17/6/1987) are repealed, along with any conflicting regulatory provisions.

Article 17: This decision is published in the Official Gazette and takes effect one month after publication.

Beirut, 9/11/1996 Governor of BDL: Riad T. Salamé

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¹ - Added pursuant to Article 5 of Interim Decision No. 8922 dated 10/12/2004 (Interim Circular No. 73). ² - Added pursuant to Interim Decision No. 8339 dated 16/1/2003 (Interim Circular No. 29); then renumbered to "Eleventh" instead of "Ninth" pursuant to Article 3 of Interim Decision No. 9171 dated 24/10/2005 (Interim Circular No. 95), effective from 2/1/2006. ³ - Added pursuant to Article 9 of Interim Decision No. 9171 dated 24/10/2005 (Interim Circular No. 95), effective from 2/1/2006.

Annex: Form 1 (Transfer Request to/from BDL Accounts, Basic Decision No. 6367 dated 9/11/96) Form No. 1 Bank Name: Request to transfer funds to our account in another BDL branch Sender: Sender Receiver: Central Bank of Lebanon - Branch BDLCLBBXCOD IBAN Number: Sender Reference: TRN:20 32 A: Value Date (YYMMDD): Currency: LBP Amount: Amount (in letters):