Lebanese judge orders asset freezes for individuals tied to major banks

Beirut: A Lebanese judge has ordered a protective freeze of some properties and company stakes of 14 individuals with links to some of Lebanon's biggest banks, a move the lenders said could further isolate them from international financial networks.

The asset freezes, listed in a judicial document seen by Reuters, are part of a legal complaint lodged by lawyers belonging to a civil society group on behalf of Lebanese depositors. Lebanon's banks were once among the world's more profitable lenders, funnelling funds from a scattered diaspora into state coffers in return for high interest rates. But as Lebanon's economic meltdown gathered pace and dollar remittances dried up, the financial system was starved of funding.