Suspended Yoma Bank to Open Again in Burma

By THE IRRAWADDY
One of Burma’s largest private banks, Yoma, will resume full banking operations again after a five-year suspension by the military government for money laundering, according to a bank shareholder.

First Myanmar Investment Co.Ltd, the founder of Yoma Bank, said the bank will be fully operational again, following negotiations with the Ministry of Finance and Revenue.
The bank is now waiting for a letter of permission from the government, and the bank is expected to be fully operational by the end of the year, the official said.

Shares of Yoma Bank, which has 41 branch offices, are held by relatives of some of Burma’s top leaders, according to a business source in Rangoon.

The military government has provided a plot of land in Naypyidaw, the new capital, for a Yoma Bank branch office.

“This is a good sign for Burma because Yoma bank has the largest number of branch offices in Burma,” said a factory owner in the South Dagon Industrial Zone in Rangoon.

In 2003, the military regime investigated Yoma Bank and other private banks, including Asia Wealth Bank, the Myanmar Mayflower Bank and Myanmar Universal Bank, for improper banking procedures and acquiring land through illegal means. The banks were banned from conducting certain types of financial transactions.

The US Treasury Department named the Mayflower Bank and Asia Wealth Bank as “primary money laundering concerns” under the USA Patriot Act, which was enacted to fight terrorism after September 11, 2001. The US said the banks were linked to illegal narcotics trafficking organizations in Southeast Asia.

Burmese drug officials have claimed in the past they don’t have enough expertise to deal with money laundering and financial crimes.