27 May 2011

Libyan funds held by top financial institutions

12:22 pm on 27 May 2011

A leaked report shows that some of the biggest and best-known financial institutions in the world held billions of dollars of Libyan state funds.

The BBC says the June 2010 document names HSBC, Royal Bank of Scotland, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase, Nomura and Societe General.

The banks refused to say whether they held, or are still holding, funds for the Libyan Investment Authority, which holds about $US70 billion.

All the assets are now frozen by the European Union and United Nations.

A much larger proportion of the Libyan Investment Authority's assets - some $US19 billion - were held by Libyan and Middle Eastern Banks.