The Central Bank on Friday announced that it has imposed “precautionary measures” on all non-banking licensed financial institutions, including money transfer and exchange firms, days after a U.S. Treasury delegation visited Lebanon and urged measures against Hezbollah funding.

"In an effort to remove Lebanon from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) gray list, as the inclusion of any country on this list indicates gaps in combating illicit financial transactions, leading to stricter international scrutiny and reduced confidence from global financial institutions, the Central Bank today took the first step in a series of precautionary measures aimed at strengthening the compliance environment within the financial sector,” it said in a statement.