Fitch Ratings, the international rating agency, has affirmed and withdrawn on January 29, 2020 the long-term and short-term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) of two Lebanese banks, namely Bank Audi and Byblos Bank, at Restricted Default “RD”, in addition to the banks’ viability rating (VR) at “f”, and their support rating & support rating floor at “5” and “No Floor”. The ratings have been withdrawn according to Fitch, for commercial reasons. In details, the IDR of both banks shows the “regulatory intervention” into customer deposits at banks in December 2019, thereby preventing banks from servicing their foreign currency (FC) obligations in compliance with contract terms. The measures taken that instructed banks to pay half of the interest on FC deposits in local currency is in Fitch’s opinion a “material reduction” in comparison with the original contractual obligations and accordingly meets its definition of a restricted default. According to the agency, the Lebanese banking association set a weekly deposit withdrawal limit of $1,000 in order to limit the continuous deposit withdrawals, and commented that some banks placed even tighter limits in response to rising FC liquidity pressures. The report mentioned that a VR of “f” indicates that without the imposition of capital controls, banks would have defaulted, taking into account the large demand for deposit withdrawals and the reduced confidence in the banking sector. The rating agency also commented that banks’ support ratings of “5” and support rating floors of “No Floor” reflect the government’s incapability of supporting banks, as captured by the “CC” sovereign rating.