Standard Chartered Bank is reportedly planning to sell its retail banking business in Lebanon, to direct its focus on wholesale operations, according to sources familiar with the matter.
The lender is expected to begin the bidding process for the sale of its retail banking business by the end of 2013.
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An unidentified Lebanese banker was quoted by The Daily Star as saying that the lender was simply selling the licence and instead would open a representative office in Beirut that would focus on the issuance of letter of credits (LCs) and some foreign correspondence.
"The representative office will get LCs from abroad and not here. They can preserve the correspondence relationships in Lebanon," the banker added.
According to the banker, Lebanon’s Central Bank will lend money to any commercial bank for buying the license from Standard Chartered.
"The party which wins the license will acquire the assets and liabilities of the bank along with the branches and the entire staff," banker added.
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By GlobalDataStandard Chartered Bank joins HSBC, which recently cut its number of branches to three in the country including the headquarters in Ain al-Mreisseh.
