mizzima.com-Nov 28
The NGO Justice for Myanmar has raised concerns over Yoma Bank’s relationship with the illegally-installed Myanmar junta. Yoma Bank is providing banking services to Telecom International Myanmar Company Limited, the operator of the Myanmar military’s Mytel mobile network. As of March 2022, Yoma Bank held over $10 million in a US dollar account for the company, Justice for Myanmar has confirmed. Yoma is a Myanmar bank controlled by FMI, a holding company listed on the Yangon Stock Exchange. It is led by Serge Pun and backed by major international investors. Greenwood Capital, an affiliate of Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, GIC, owns 19.7% of Yoma Bank. The Norwegian development finance institution Norfund owns 10.6%. The International Finance Corporation (IFC) of the World Bank Group owns 4.5%.
Telecom International Myanmar is a joint venture of the miliary conglomerate Myanmar Economic Corporation (MEC), which is sanctioned by the US, UK, EU and Canada. Other Mytel shareholders are Viettel Global Investment of Vietnam’s Ministry of National Defence, and Myanmar National Telecom Holdings, an investment vehicle for Myanmar cronies. Mytel is incredibly lucrative, according to the NGO. Myanmar’s generals benefit through access to Vietnamese investment and technology, and future profits. Justice For Myanmar estimates that Mytel’s Myanmar military owners are projected to earn more than US$700 million in a decade from Mytel’s fifth year of operation. Mytel also provides the Myanmar military leadership with capabilities for surveillance of troops and the public. Read more at: https://www.mizzima.com/article/ngo-raises-concern-over-yoma-bank-providing-services-myanmar-military-telco-mytel
