Eighty-five American and Canadian victims of Hizbullah terrorist attacks have filed an unprecedented lawsuit in the New York Supreme Court against an American and Lebanese-Canadian bank for $650 million in damages. The financial institutions being sued are the American Express Bank Ltd. (AMEX Bank) and the Lebanese-Canadian Bank SAL (LCB).

LCB's main offices are in Beirut, and it has branches throughout Lebanon and Canada. AMEX is one of its correspondent banks in the United States. The plaintiffs include those who were injured or who are relatives of victims of rocket attacks on Israel during the Second Lebanon War.

The suit claims that AMEX failed to establish adequate procedures to prevent terrorism financing.

The lawsuit is the first to be brought by terror victims against an American financial institution that serves as a correspondent for a bank in Lebanon.

The Israeli attorney for the plaintiffs, Nitsana Darshan-Leitner stated, "Hizbullah is a financial giant which is deeply entrenched in the Lebanese banking system. Any U.S. bank that serves as correspondent for a Lebanese bank may well be aiding and abetting Hizbullah terrorism and runs the risk of serious civil liability.
Hizbullah is a financial giant which is deeply entrenched in the Lebanese banking system.

"U.S. correspondents for Lebanese banks owe it to themselves and to their shareholders to carefully examine and re-evaluate their relationships with banks in Lebanon."

The plaintiffs' American attorney Robert J. Tolchin added, "There will be more suits to come against Lebanese banks and their U.S. correspondents."