Syria is embarking on a cautious reentry into the global financial system after more than a decade of war and isolation.
In a milestone, the US Congress in December permanently repealed the 2019 Caesar Act—the most severe set of sanctions against Damascus.
“This decision allows Syrian banks to reconnect with the international financial system, and in particular the Swift system,” says Ali Awdeh, head of research at the Union of Arab Banks. The repeal also reopens Syria to foreign financial institutions.
“This will benefit foreign lenders, including US and European correspondent banks, who will be able to perform transactions with Syrian counterparts, related mainly to trade finance and monetary transactions,” Awdeh notes.
For regional lenders—particularly Arab institutions that established a presence in Syria when private banks were liberalized in the 2000s—the shift creates early mover opportunities. Institutions such as Lebanon’s Banque Bemo, Bank Audi, BLOM Bank, and Fransabank; Jordan’s Arab Bank; Bahrain’s Al Baraka; and Qatar National Bank, all of which maintained minimal operations in Syria during the years-long civil war, are well positioned to scale up activity as restrictions ease. The banks’ focus will center on retail banking, cross-border payments, trade finance, and remittance flows, particularly from countries hosting large Syrian-exile communities.
Beyond banking, sanctions relief lowers barriers for institutional and corporate investment tied to reconstruction and regional economic reintegration. Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar have already made multibillion-dollar investment pledges.
In October, President Ahmed al-Sharaa said Syria had attracted $28 billion in investments since the regime of Bashar al-Assad fell in December 2024—just a fraction of the roughly $216 billion the World Bank estimates is needed to rebuild the country.
The road to financial normalization therfeore remains long. Syria’s banking sector faces deep-seated challenges, including capital shortfalls, weak compliance frameworks, and underinvestment in infrastructure.
“Even as sanctions ease, major global banks continue to classify Syria as high risk, maintaining strict de-risking measures that sever its links to cross-border finance,” PeaceRep researcher Rebecca Thompson notes in a December report, “From Cash to Code.” “Domestically, banks are also underused and deeply mistrusted.”
