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 | |
| Industry | Banking |
|---|---|
| Predecessor | Imperial Ottoman Bank |
| Founded | 1919 |
| Headquarters | Paris until 1963, then Beirut, Lebanon |
Key people | Ramsay El-Khoury (Chairman) |
| Owner | El-Khoury family |
| Website | bslbank |
The BSL's activities in Syria were nationalized in 1956 following the Suez Crisis. In Lebanon, it was reorganized in 1963 as its central banking functions became the country's central bank, the Banque du Liban, and its commercial activity was continued as the Beirut-incorporated Société Nouvelle de la Banque de Syrie et du Liban (SNBSL). That bank came under Lebanese ownership in 1987 and was rebranded BSL Bank in 2012.