Banque de Syrie et du Liban
The Bank of Syria and Lebanon, from 1919 to 1924 Banque de Syrie, from 1924 to 1939 Banque de Syrie et du Grand-Liban, then Banque de Syrie et du Liban (BSL) from 1939 to 1963, was a French bank that was carved out from the Imperial Ottoman Bank following World War I and granted a central banking role in what would become Syria and Lebanon under French mandate and in the early years of the two countries' independence.
Head office building on rue Riad El Solh, Beirut, completed in 1955 and restored after the Lebanese Civil War
Building at 16, rue Le Peletier in Paris, the bank's head office from 1919 to 1927
Building at 12, rue Roquépine in Paris, head office from 1927
1 Syrian piastre, 1919
Banque du Liban is the central bank of Lebanon. It was established on August 1, 1963, and became fully operational on April 1, 1964.
In 2023, Wassim Mansouri stepped up as interim governor of the Banque du Liban after Lebanon failed to name a successor to Riad Salameh, whose term finished in July 2023.
French language inscription "Banque du Liban" on the headquarters of the Bank of Lebanon.
Image: Philippe Takla Portrait
Image: Michel el Khoury 1988
Image: Edmond Naïm 1988