Word: intra
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...Lebanon was plunged into economic crisis when its huge Intra Bank shut down last month, and the situation is steadily getting worse. For three days all other Lebanese-owned banks were closed; when they reopened, $35 million was withdrawn almost immediately. Virtually none of it has been redeposited in Lebanese banks. Since Intra held 38% of the country's deposits, its continued shutdown has meant a disabling shortage of cash. Lebanese restaurants report up to a 50% falloff in business; in the gambling casinos, the dealers are playing blackjack with one another. Worse, merchants have now lost their credit...
...farther than his sources of deposit, Bedas moved heavily into European real estate, began issuing traveler's checks, last year even joined New York's McDonnell & Co. in starting a mutual fund sold in the Middle East, Germany, Switzerland and Latin America. Despite the increasing complexity of Intra's operations, Bedas ran it as a one-man show, scoffed at bankers who suggested he might be overextended...
...only because his Arab clients deserted him. For one thing, soaring interest rates have lately made Europe a more profitable haven for cash. Also, Intra became involved in the bitter feud between Egypt's Gamal Abdel Nasser and Saudi Arabia's King Feisal, leader of the Middle East's conservatives. When Nasser-financed newspapers in Lebanon attacked Feisal, Saudi and Kuwaiti sheiks yanked $30 million out of Intra in one month. On top of that, Lebanon's three-year-old central bank fumbled its chance to prevent the crisis. Asked to help Intra, the bank stalled...
Battling against the odds to keep Intra together, Bedas' directors last week petitioned a Lebanese court for three years' grace to repay their depositors without forced liquidation of assets. Bedas himself began a desperate hunt in New York for enough cash to keep control. Scenting the possibilities of snagging valuable property at distress prices, the Soviet Union turned bargain hunter, sent out feelers but backed away at the hefty asking price. U.S. Shipping Tycoon Daniel K. Ludwig, who recently tried unsuccessfully to merge his tiny Lebanese International Airways with Bedas' bigger line, expressed interest in buying stock...
Having muffed its chance to prevent disaster cheaply, the Lebanese government drafted a law allocating $17 million to pay off Intra's small depositors. Then at last it began considering how to strengthen the supervision of its banks...