The Libyan Investment Authority (LIA; Arabic: المؤسسة الليبية للاستثمار) is a government-managed sovereign wealth fund and holding company headquartered in Tripoli, Libya.
[2] The LIA oversees and manages investments in various areas including agriculture, real estate, infrastructure, oil and gas and in shares and bonds.
[5][6] The LIA was established in August 2006 to manage Libya's mounting oil revenue surplus and is headquartered in Tripoli.
[1] The LIA counts the assets of the Libyan Foreign Investment Company (LAFICO), established in 1982, and Oilinvest, founded in 1988, in its portfolio.
[citation needed] The LIA mandate based on Law 13 of 2010 to the board of directors is to preserve, protect and grow the sovereign wealth investments.
2 of 2014, the Council of Ministers, the executive branch of the Libyan Government appointed in accordance with the governmental mandate of the elected House of Representatives.
[11] In July, 2008, the LIA bought a share in the Dutch-Belgian bank of Fortis, which needed additional funds to maintain solvency.
On Bengdara's recommendation Sami Rais (another Gaddafi era appointment)had been made chief executive of LIA in October 2009.
[citation needed] In 2011, Ali Tarhouni, minister of financial and oil affairs for the rebel National Transitional Council, appointed Mahmoud Badi, formerly a civil servant under Gaddafi, to investigate the Libyan Investment Authority.
[citation needed] As of December 2012, the Libyan Investment Authority following the Deloitte validation and evaluation report and the commitment to meeting the governance of mandate outlined in Law 13, the LIA appeared to be operating normally [17] and no responsible investigation has demonstrated any real substantiated evidence of corruption or malfeasance.
[18][19] In 2014, Breish stepped down, replaced in the interim by Abdulrahman Ben Yezza, a former Libyan Minister for Oil and Gas, pending an inquiry under Libya's Political and Administrative Isolation Law (through decision No.659 of 2014), until a permanent chairman was put in place.
These sanctions were originally requested by the National Transitional Council shortly after the fall of the Gaddafi regime to protect such assets from theft.
[citation needed] In 2015 Abdulmagid Breish called for the UN to maintain its freeze over the majority of the LIA's assets under UN Security Council Resolution 1970 of 26 February 2011.
On 13 April 2015, the Libyan Court of Appeal stated that the Political and Administrative Isolation Law did not apply to Breish – he claims this led to his reinstatement as chairman and CEO of the LIA on 18 May 2015.
[42][43] Breish supported the establishment of a Presidency Council (PC) and Government of National Accord (GNA) in April 2016 and welcomed the PC and GNA, stating that "The LIA reaffirms its readiness to fully cooperate with the Government of National Accord in providing all relevant data, reports and support".
Despite a severe lack of transparency, the LIA saw an astonishing influx of foreign investment after Libya was removed from the U.S.'s list of state sponsors of terrorism in 2006, thereby lifting previously imposed economic sanctions.
[2] The Post reported that investment in Libya "occurred with encouragement from U.S. officials, who wanted to reward Gaddafi for pledging to honor international law, disavow terrorism and compensate relatives of victims of the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing:"[2] "Sanctions are powerful because of our ability to leverage the U.S. financial system.
[2] Following a validation and evaluation assessment undertaken by Deloitte for the board of directors in 2012,[51] the LIA portfolio was valued at $67 billion as of December 31, 2012.