Government to compensate “Lebanon Coops” shareholders

The Parliamentary Finance and Budget Committee led by MP Ibrahim Kanaan discussed last week a proposed accelerated bill to amend provisions of Law No. 190, dated June 26, 2010. The bill requires the ministry of finance to give an advance in compensation for shareholders in the Coop of Lebanon (Association of Production and Consumption) and is expected to resolve a social and humanitarian crisis affecting a large number of Lebanese people. The above Committee announced that it has completed an initial reading of the draft law. In light of this and of statements and testimonials by Coop representatives, the Finance Ministry and the present MPs. It was agreed to rewrite some articles of the said law in order to ensure the equities and rights of shareholders, as well as creditors and suppliers, in observance of the financial assets and prevalent laws. As such, the committee President gave the Ministry and the Coop a one-week ultimatum to return with the modified formula for endorsement during the upcoming March 2 parliamentary session. It should be noted, that the Coop was founded in 1977, but in clear breach of the law, then Coop managers decided to set up a center accepting interest-bearing deposits from customers. During the year 2000, Lebanon Coops suffered a liquidity crisis as a result of poor management and extensive investment of capital in fixed assets, noting that the financial statements that were published proved to be incorrect. (Al Mustaqbal, February 24, 2017)