Under the initiative of Cabinet Minister Raymond Eddé, Lebanon Law No. 1/1956 on Bank Secrecy was adopted in 1956 establishing banking secrecy in Lebanon. It was inspired by the Swiss banking system and believed that the country could reap benefits from a similar system.

During this era, Lebanon was enjoying an exceptional political stability unlike its neighboring countries and the context seemed ideal to adopt a regime of financial privacy. The Lebanese legislator was driven by a desire to benefit from such environment and attract foreign deposits into the Lebanese banking sector. Indeed, the enactment of Lebanon Law No. 1/1956 incited investors and elites of the region to transfer their assets into the Lebanese banking sector. Lebanon became, at the time, the only country in the Middle East to adopt a liberal system economically and politically, therefore acquiring the label of “the Switzerland of the Middle East".