Libya · Financial institution
Libyan Foreign Bank
Libyan Foreign Bank (LFB) is a state-owned bank headquartered in Tripoli, Libya. It was founded in 1972 as Libyan Arab Foreign Bank. It is wholly owned by the Central Bank of Libya. It serves corporate clients, financial institutions and public-sector bodies in Libya and abroad, and it holds Libyan banking investments outside the country. In May 2024 Burkina Faso nationalised Banque Commerciale du Burkina, in which LFB held 50%. LFB filed an arbitration claim against Burkina Faso at the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) in August 2026.
Licences and registrations
Matched by LEI on the 22 tracked registers
None matched by LEI in the 22 tracked registers.
- The tracked registers cover payment, e-money, crypto and money-service firms in 37 countries. Bank licences from national supervisors are not tracked.
Swift network
Swift’s ISO 9362 BIC directory
- BIC
- LAFBLYLTXXX head office
- Connection to Swift
- Connected to SwiftThis BIC is registered as a live address on the Swift network. The institution sends and receives Swift messages under LAFBLYLT directly.
- Swift GPI
- Live member
- Payment schemes and systems
- No entry in the EPC registers, the ECB T2 and TIPS lists or the SIX Bank Master cites this BIC
- Branch codes
- None: head-office BIC only
- BIC first registered
- 1995-06-03
- Last updated
- 2022-02-14
Overview
Researched 29 Sep 2026 · Sources
Total assets
Not published
Employees
Not published
Ownership
State-owned
100% Central Bank of Libya
Institution type
Commercial bank
Trades as LFB
- Ownership
- The Central Bank of Libya holds 100% of the bank.
- Direct parent
- Central Bank of Libya, Libya 100%
- Ultimate owner
- State of Libya, Libya
- Head office
- Dat El Imad Administrative Complex, Tower No 2, Tripoli, Libya
- Name in the local language
- المصرف الليبي الخارجي
- Former name
- Libyan Arab Foreign Bank
Business lines
The bank serves corporate clients, financial institutions and public bodies, including the National Oil Corporation, with trade finance, documentary credits, deposits and international payments, and manages Libyan banking investments abroad.
Online
- Websites & references
- lfb.ly ↗
Wikipedia ↗ - Official social accounts
- LinkedIn ↗ · X ↗ · Facebook ↗ · Instagram ↗ · YouTube ↗
Sources · 14 pages consulted
- lfb.ly/en/about-us/people-and-leadership/board-of-directors/
- lfb.ly/ar/%D8%B9%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B5%D8%B1%D9%81/%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D9%88%D8%B8%D9%81
- lfb.ly/en/contact-us/
- lfb.ly/en/investor-relations/key-shareholders/
- cbl.gov.ly/en/banks/libyan-foreign-bank/
- libyaherald.com/2025/01/libyan-foreign-bank-announces-preliminary-2024-year-end-results-showing-us-440-mi
- alwasat.ly/news/libya/521215
- nub.ly/corporate_communicat/%D8%A7%D8%AC%D8%AA%D9%85%D8%A7%D8%B9-%D8%A8%D9%8A%D9%86-%D8%AF%D9%8A
- alwasat.ly/news/libya/477524
- koaci.com/article/2026/09/02/libye/justice/libye-une-banque-saisit-la-justice-internationale-contre
- libyareview.com/67929/libyan-foreign-bank-files-arbitration-case-against-burkina-faso/
- financialafrik.com/2024/05/28/burkina-faso-pourquoi-letat-nationalise-la-banque-commerciale-du-burkina-bcb/
- libyaherald.com/2026/02/lfb-recovering-funds-in-several-locations-secretly-to-protect-the-funds-and-proce
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libyan_Foreign_Bank
Leadership
Researched 29 Sep 2026 · Sources
- Chief executive
- Mohamed Elamari (Mohamed Mustafa Elamari) General Manager (CEO)
- Chair
- Mohamed Ali Addarrat Chairman of the Management Committee
Supervisors & regulators
Researched 29 Sep 2026 · Sources
- Libya
- Central Bank of Libya Central bankPrudential supervisorAML supervisorForeign exchange
Recent events 1 enforcement or investigation item
Researched 29 Sep 2026 · Sources
-
Other
ICSID registered an arbitration claim by the bank against Burkina Faso over the 2024 nationalisation of Banque Commerciale du Burkina.
koaci.com ↗ -
Other
Libya's Audit Bureau met the bank's management to discuss its foreign investments and completing the review and approval of its financial statements.
alwasat.ly ↗ -
Incident
The bank moved operations to remote working during security tensions in Tripoli and reported minor damage to its head office building.
alwasat.ly ↗ -
Leadership
The bank announced that Khaled Algonsel handed over the CEO role to Mohamed Mustafa Elamari. Algonsel remained Deputy Chairman of the Management Committee.
libyaherald.com ↗ -
Other
The government of Burkina Faso nationalised Banque Commerciale du Burkina, in which the bank held 50%.
financialafrik.com ↗
Compliance-relevant events of the last three years, newest first: fines and enforcement, investigations, incidents, leadership changes, mergers and licence changes. Each links to its source.
Identifiers
Head-office record
- BIC
- LAFBLYLTXXX
- How the BIC breaks down
- LAFBBank
- LYCountry · Libya
- LTLocation
- XXXBranch · head office
- Branch description
- Not recorded in the directory
- LEI
- 549300WH9RIN045SG770
- LEI record
- View on GLEIF ↗
- How the LEI was matched
- BIC: Mapped to this BIC in the Swift and GLEIF BIC-to-LEI relationship file.
Profile
- Type
- Financial institutionClassified as a financial institution in Swift’s ISO 9362 BIC directory, with no licence on a tracked register. This includes banks that neither the ECB nor the FSB lists, as well as brokers, fund managers, insurers and market infrastructure.
- Regulation
- Not on a tracked registerNo licence or registration was found for this entity on the registers the directory tracks, or on the ECB and FSB bank lists. Most banks are licensed by national supervisors whose registers are not tracked yet. This does not mean that the institution is unregulated.
- Register licences
- None matched by LEI in the 22 tracked registersThe tracked registers cover payment, e-money, crypto and money-service firms in 37 countries. Bank licences from national supervisors are not tracked.
- Country · region
- Libya · Middle East & North Africa
- Trading venues (MIC)
- No MIC registered under this LEI list of 2026-09-17
- OFAC sanctions
- No listing cites this BIC
- EU sanctions
- No listing matched this BIC or its LEI
- Country sanctions
- Targeted listings only OFAC + EU
Types come from Swift’s BIC classification, the licences on the 22 tracked registers, and the ECB and FSB bank lists. Most banks outside the euro area appear as financial institutions, because their supervisors’ registers are not tracked yet.
No licence or registration was found for this entity on the 22 registers the directory tracks, or on the ECB and FSB bank lists. Most banks are licensed by national supervisors whose registers are not tracked yet. This does not mean that the institution is unregulated.
Ownership and group
GLEIF relationship records
The Libyan Foreign Bank group has 4 institutions in the directory, in 3 countries: all hold a BIC.
Including Alubaf Arab International Bank B.S.C. (C), Alubaf International Bank Tunis, Banque Tuniso-Libyenne.
See the Libyan Foreign Bank group →Group membership follows the accounting-consolidation relationships reported to GLEIF. It does not show ownership shares or control.
Addresses
- Registered address
- THAT AL-IMAD ADMIN COMPLEX TRIPOLI 2542 LIBYA
- Operational address
- DAT EL IMAD ADMINISTRATIVE COMPLEX TOWER NO 2 DAT EL IMAD STREET TRIPOLI TRIPOLI POB 2542 LIBYA
ISO 20022 identification
As an agent in a Swift cross-border payment message (CBPR+)
A CBPR+ message identifies this institution by its BIC, and may add its LEI or a clearing code. CBPR+ does not allow a name and postal address next to a BIC.
- Identified by
- BIC, with its LEI
- Roles in CBPR+
- Any agent, including the instructing and instructed agents
CBPR+
For cross-border payments on Swift: the BIC, with the LEI and clearing code where known
<FinInstnId>
<BICFI>LAFBLYLTXXX</BICFI>
<LEI>549300WH9RIN045SG770</LEI>
</FinInstnId>Full record
Every ISO 20022 element the directory holds. Base ISO 20022 allows them together. CBPR+ does not allow a name and address next to a BIC
<FinInstnId>
<BICFI>LAFBLYLTXXX</BICFI>
<LEI>549300WH9RIN045SG770</LEI>
<Nm>LIBYAN FOREIGN BANK</Nm>
<PstlAdr>
<TwnNm>TRIPOLI</TwnNm>
<Ctry>LY</Ctry>
<AdrLine>THAT AL-IMAD ADMIN COMPLEX TRIPOLI 2542</AdrLine>
</PstlAdr>
</FinInstnId>The BIC, name and address are as published in Swift’s BIC directory. The LEI comes from the Swift and GLEIF BIC-to-LEI file. Check them against your own records before use.
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Sources & method
Every value comes from a public source, such as Swift’s ISO 9362 BIC directory, GLEIF or the OFAC and EU sanctions lists. Most sources are matched on a BIC or an LEI, not on a name.
Swift GPI membership is matched on names and is indicative. A missing sanctions match does not mean that no listing applies. Always screen against the official lists.
The sanctions facts on this page cover the BIC and its LEI only.
An institution is one entry in the directory: a BIC8 in Swift’s directory, or a firm on a tracked register that holds no BIC. Licences held by an institution with a BIC are shown on its page.
Read the methodology →Credits for this page
- Ownership and group—GLEIF Level 2 relationship records (accounting consolidation), matched by LEI.
- Overview, leadership, regulators and events—researched per institution by an AI model with web search, from the institution's own website and reports, regulators, company registers and news. Figures, people and events link to their source, and each card shows the research date. AI research can be wrong or out of date, so check key facts at the source.
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