When Lebanon’s bankers turned to DLA Piper and Patton Boggs for help last year, they hoped the lobbying powerhouses could burnish the image of a $127 billion industry tainted by allegations of money laundering for terrorists and drug dealers.
Instead, two Lebanese financial institutions last week were hit with U.S. Treasury Department sanctions, each designated as a "primary money laundering concern" for purportedly aiding Hezbollah, a Lebanese political party that the United States considers a terrorist organization. The classification sets the stage for regulators to cut off the two exchange houses from the U.S. financial system.
