The military has appointed at least 20 of its officers to high-ranking positions at Myanma Economic Bank (MEB) this year and they were put in charge of overseeing branches in at least five regions and two states last month, according to the junta’s gazette and letters from the bank seen by The Irrawaddy.
Five majors were appointed as managers at the bank’s headquarters, a March 15 gazette said.
Another gazette on the same day said 15 captains had also been appointed as assistant managers at MEB’s headquarters.
In July, the state-owned commercial bank appointed them as civilian managers and assistant managers of administration departments in branches across the country.
The five majors were transferred to branches in Shan State, and Yangon, Bago and Ayeyarwady regions, according to a letter from the MEB seen by The Irrawaddy.
In another letter, 15 captains, including the 14 appointed to MEB in March, were transferred to MEB district banks in Yangon, Magwe, Sagaing, Mandalay and Bago regions, and Kayah and Shan states. They have been appointed civilian deputy heads of the branches.
Zin Yaw, a former captain in the junta’s military who joined the civil disobedience movement, said more military officers had been appointed to high positions at the bank.
“It’s true that the junta appointed its officers to Myanma Economic Bank [but] this was not the first time. The junta [began] appointing military officers to the MEB in the months after the coup,” he said.
Appointing officers to civilian government departments and state-owned businesses is a method the junta uses to tighten its control, he explained, adding that the junta has plenty of majors and captains and most are transferred to civilian government departments and state-owned financial institutions.
“The junta transferred majors and captains to MEB branches, and in the future it will continue transferring [officers] into such [enterprises] and other civil departments … to spread its cells,” Zin Yaw said.
The transfer of military officials from MEB headquarters to its branches followed the imposition of sanctions by the United States on two state-owned banks: Myanma Foreign Trade Bank and Myanma Investment and Commercial Bank.
After the sanctions were imposed in late June, the regime attempted to open secret bank accounts for the Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise and Myanma Timber Enterprise at the MEB to bypass sanctions on international transactions.
