This 2,200-word factsheet provides a profile of the Commercial Bank of Syria, the country's largest lender, whose history goes back to the Ottoman Empire and which is now under western sanctions.

The four representatives of the Lebanese Byblos Bank SAL (BYB) resigned from the board of its Syrian subsidiary this week, potentially paving the way for it to quit the country.

Lebanon’s Bank Audi will sell all shares of its Syrian subsidiary to Banque Bemo Saudi Fransi and quit the country, in the latest reversal to Syria’s pre-war economic liberalisation.

This list of tables provides data on the main indicators of Syrian private sector banks as of June 30, 2020.

Two private Syrian banks owned partially by foreign investors have taken steps to rebrand, in a move to reduce the risk for foreign shareholders a few months after the enactment of the Caesar Act.

The international accounting firm Deloitte’s regional branch decided to close its offices in Syria at the start of the year, joining a growing list of large professional-services firms which have left Syria since the start of the conflict, The Syria Report has learned.

The value of shares traded in the Damascus Securities Exchange last month fell to its lowest level in over two years.

All the main indicators of the Damascus Securities Exchange posted negative growth during the third quarter of this year.

The two main indices of the Damascus Securities Exchange increased by about 30 percent in the first half of this year, lower than the estimated inflation rate.

The table below lists 68 companies known to be affiliated with Rami Makhlouf.

The Central Bank of Syria has raised SYP 74.3 billion from its latest certificates of deposit issue, while some banks are restricting access to cash.

The Caesar Act has hardly been implemented before starting to make its impact felt in Syria: the withdrawal of a Lebanese company from the market has suspended the ATM networks of most private banks operating in the country.

Syrian banks are raising their capital to meet regulatory requirements after a decision banned them from paying dividends.

On March 04, Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad headed for the first time a meeting of the task force formed to confront the Coronavirus.

The assets of Syria’s private sector banking industry increased by 9.8 percent over the course of the first six months of this year but decreased in dollar terms due to the depreciation of the Syrian pound.

This table lists the main companies we have identified that are linked to the eight investors whose bank accounts were frozen on October 7, 2019.

The Central Bank of Syria has ordered a freeze on the bank accounts of Tarif Al-Akhras, one of the country’s most powerful businessmen and a relative of Asma Al-Assad, as well as on those of several other prominent businessmen, a move that seems to confirm the government’s increasing pressures on the business community.

The two indices of the Damascus Securities Exchange have posted their strongest monthly decline in years, a particularly significant change given the relatively large volume of trading.

Trading was dull at the Damascus Securities Exchange last month and not much seemed able to bring interest back into the market.

This table lists all Syrian public joint-stock companies active as of July 2019 with the value of their capital (in million SYP).

Blom Bank has said that it would not return to Syria unless western sanctions are lifted, the most explicit statement yet on the reluctance of Lebanese banks to operate in the Syrian market.

Several Syrian banks have reopened a branch in the southern city of Daraa as they start a slow expansion of their network.

The relatively stable situation in most of Syria has reflected positively on the performance of Syrian banks, which have broadly reported an improvement in their financial results last year.

In a month marked by the listing of Syriatel, almost all stocks that were traded in relatively important volumes in the Damascus Securities Exchange fell.

Fransabank Syria has announced the resignation of its Lebanese chairman, confirming the dissociation policy adopted by Lebanese banks operating in the country.

Providing guarantees for loans to SMEs and microfinance projects

Syrian private sector banks continued to post a modest increase in their main indicators in the first half of this year, as Islamic lenders now represent almost 40 percent of the sector.

This list of tables provides data on the main indicators of Syrian private sector banks as of June 30, 2018.

The assets, credits and deposits at the 14 private sector banks in Syria. 

The operating income and profits of Syria's 14 private sector banks in 2017. All numbers are in million Syrian pounds.

The balance sheets and income statements of Syrian banks show an improvement in their performance last year.

Byblos Bank Syria has announced the appointment of a new general manager.

The main index of the Syrian stock exchange reached a new high for the year as it continued to rise in November, albeit at a slower pace than in the previous month.

Lebanon’s BLOM Bank has withdrawn its last representative in the board of its Syrian affiliate, further confirming the relative disengagement of Lebanese banks from the Syrian market.

The relative stable situation in vast parts of western Syria have enabled private commercial banks in the first half of this year to post a slight improvement in their main indicators.

This list of tables provides data on the main indicators of Syrian private sector banks as of June 30, 2017.

Lebanon’s BLOM has said that it deconsolidated its Syrian operations in order to protect itself from international sanctions.

Updated on July 21, 2017: Syria’s private commercial banks, which saw last year their assets fall to a fraction of what they were in 2010 and now barely breakeven, are unable to finance any meaningful reconstruction drive.

Following in the steps of two of its competitors, BLOM Bank, Lebanon’s second largest bank by the size of its assets, has deconsolidated its operations in Syria.

In dollar terms, the assets of Syria’s private sector banks declined by 25 percent on annual basis last year.

The assets of Syria’s private commercial banks increased 17 percent in the first half of this year in Syrian Pound terms.

The annual shareholders meetings of Syria’s commercial banks have seen some changes in their management and boards.

A large transaction on shares of Bank Audi Syria has helped lift the overall value of trading in the Syrian bourse.

Syria’s stock market index was unchanged last week, while trading values remained low.

The value of the trading in the Syrian bourse last week was a paltry USD 35,000.

Syria’s 14 private sector have released their preliminary results for last year, although changes in currency prices make it difficult to assess the health of the sector.

Syria’s stock market index lost almost one percent last week falling under the 1,240 mark for the first time since April of last year.

Only seven stocks were traded last week in the Damascus Securities Exchange, less than a third of total listed stocks.