• Burmese
Friday, June 13, 2025
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Irrawaddy
27 °c
Yangon
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
No Result
View All Result
The Irrawaddy
No Result
View All Result
Home News Burma

World Bank-backed Yoma Bank Working With Myanmar military’s Mytel Network Operator

Hein Htoo Zan by Hein Htoo Zan
November 29, 2022
in Burma, Factiva, News
Reading Time: 3 mins read
0 0
A A
World Bank-backed Yoma Bank Working With Myanmar military’s Mytel Network Operator

Serge Pun and Vikram Kumar

4.5k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Myanmar’s Yoma Bank, part-backed by the World Bank, is providing banking services to Telecom International Myanmar Company Limited, the operator of the Myanmar military’s Mytel cell phone network, according to Justice for Myanmar (JFM).

The activist group revealed that as of March 2022 Yoma Bank, which is affiliated to the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC), held over US$10 million in a US dollar account for Telecom International Myanmar. Telecom International is a joint venture of the military’s Myanmar Economic Corporation (MEC) conglomerate.

Other Mytel shareholders are Viettel Global Investment, backed by Vietnam’s Ministry of National Defence, and Myanmar National Telecom Holdings, an investment vehicle for Myanmar cronies.

RelatedPosts

New Year Honors List: A Who’s Who of Genocide, Sanctions, and Misrule

New Year Honors List: A Who’s Who of Genocide, Sanctions, and Misrule

April 19, 2025
3.6k
Myanmar Before and After the 2021 Military Coup

Myanmar Before and After the 2021 Military Coup

February 1, 2025
935
Myanmar Junta’s Desperation Diplomacy in 2024

Myanmar Junta’s Desperation Diplomacy in 2024

December 24, 2024
2.3k

Yoma is controlled by FMI, a holding company listed on the Yangon Stock Exchange. It is headed by Serge Pun and backed by major international investors.

Greenwood Capital, an affiliate of the Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC, owns 19.7 per cent of Yoma Bank. The Norwegian development finance institution Norfund owns 10.6 per cent. IFC owns four and half per cent of the bank.

“Mytel is a strategic resource of the illegal Myanmar military junta and the company aids and abets the junta’s war crimes and crimes against humanity,” said Ma Yadanar Maung, JFM’s spokesperson.

JFM pointed out that Yoma Bank is supporting Myanmar’s military regime by providing banking services to its telecom operator.

Ma Yadanar Maung said that Norfund, IFC and GIC have been warned about Yoma Bank’s business with the Myanmar military and its associates, yet no action has been taken.

JFM has called on Yoma Bank and its investors to immediately end its business relationship with Telecom International Myanmar and all other companies owned by the Myanmar military, which stands accused of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

“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,” said a JFM statement issued on November 25.

Mytel also provides the regime leadership with capabilities for surveillance of the general public. The military’s signals directorate is operationally linked to Mytel, and the mobile network uses and maintains the military’s network of fibre optic cables. Mytel operates cell phone towers on military bases, which are likely used to supplement military communications.

According to transaction records recently released by whistleblower website Distributed Denial of Secrets, there were more than 200 transactions between the MEC-owned Innwa Bank and Yoma Bank. MEC has been sanctioned by the US, United Kingdom, and Canada.

After JFM called on international banks to cease transactions with Innwa Bank in early November, Australia’s ANZ bank announced on November 22 that it will pull out of Myanmar by early 2023.

In April last year JFM revealed that Yoma Bank issued a loan in 2020 to Pinnacle Asia, a cell phone tower company co-owned by Khin Thiri Thet Mon, daughter of junta chief and war criminal Senior General Min Aung Hlaing. The loan was for Pinnacle Asia to build cell phone towers for Mytel.

Telecom International Myanmar was identified by the UN Fact-Finding Mission as a military business, yet it has remained a Yoma Bank customer.

“If Norfund, IFC and GIC cannot stop Yoma Bank from providing services to Mytel and transacting with Innwa Bank, then they should responsibly divest, in accordance with their international human rights responsibilities,” said JFM’s Ma Yadanar Maung.

Your Thoughts …
Tags: CoupYoma Bank’s Military Business
Hein Htoo Zan

Hein Htoo Zan

The Irrawaddy

Similar Picks:

Myanmar Junta Arrests Thai Condo Buyers, Realtors as Currency Crashes
Business

Myanmar Junta Arrests Thai Condo Buyers, Realtors as Currency Crashes

by The Irrawaddy
June 4, 2024
27.6k

Monday’s arrests follow reports that Myanmar has become one of Thailand’s most lucrative markets for selling condos since the 2021...

Read moreDetails
China-Backed Illegal Rare Earth Mining Surging in Northern Myanmar
Burma

China-Backed Illegal Rare Earth Mining Surging in Northern Myanmar

by Yan Naing
July 15, 2022
34.7k

A Myanmar military-backed militia in Kachin State is protecting Chinese-run mines that produce coveted rare earth minerals used in hi-tech...

Read moreDetails
New Year Message From Myanmar: Dictator Shows he is Forever Falling Short
Analysis

New Year Message From Myanmar: Dictator Shows he is Forever Falling Short

by The Irrawaddy
January 3, 2024
24.9k

Min Aung Hlaing kept this year’s speech brief – just long enough to blame everyone for the disaster he created...

Read moreDetails
Post-Coup Myanmar is a Family Business: Min Aung Hlaing & Co
Burma

Post-Coup Myanmar is a Family Business: Min Aung Hlaing & Co

by David Aung
February 8, 2024
17.9k

Min Aung Hlaing is an opportunistic businessman in military uniform and his children are more mercenary than the offspring of...

Read moreDetails
A Few Pariah States Congratulate Myanmar on The Anniversary of Its Independence Day
Burma

A Few Pariah States Congratulate Myanmar on The Anniversary of Its Independence Day

by The Irrawaddy
January 8, 2024
17.7k

Annual holiday has been ignored by the governments of most countries since the civilian government was ousted in a military...

Read moreDetails
Singapore Called On to Stop Feeding Myanmar Junta’s War Machine
Myanmar’s Crisis & the World

Singapore Called On to Stop Feeding Myanmar Junta’s War Machine

by The Irrawaddy
August 24, 2023
10.2k

Over 200 civil society organizations demand that city-state block regime’s access to arms, dual-use goods, technology and funds.

Read moreDetails
Load More
Next Post
2 More Former NLD Lawmakers Jailed by Myanmar Junta

2 More Former NLD Lawmakers Jailed by Myanmar Junta

Over 20 Myanmar Regime Forces Killed in Three Days of Resistance Attacks

Over 20 Myanmar Regime Forces Killed in Three Days of Resistance Attacks

No Result
View All Result

Recommended

The Hidden Fallout From China’s Cross-Border Crime Crackdown in Myanmar

The Hidden Fallout From China’s Cross-Border Crime Crackdown in Myanmar

4 days ago
1.4k
How the Myanmar Military’s Propaganda Efforts Have Evolved Over the Decades

How the Myanmar Military’s Propaganda Efforts Have Evolved Over the Decades

2 days ago
919

Most Read

  • Civilians in Need as Arakan Army Advances on Kyaukphyu

    Civilians in Need as Arakan Army Advances on Kyaukphyu

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Myanmar Junta Advances into Karenni State

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Myanmar Jade Hub Burns as Junta Counteroffensive Penetrates Hpakant

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • China Defends Myanmar Junta on Human Rights at UN

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • High-Level Ministerial Meeting Held to Speed Up Preparations for Myanmar Junta’s Election

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

Newsletter

Get The Irrawaddy’s latest news, analyses and opinion pieces on Myanmar in your inbox.

Subscribe here for daily updates.

Contents

  • News
  • Politics
  • War Against the Junta
  • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
  • Conflicts In Numbers
  • Junta Crony
  • Ethnic Issues
  • Asia
  • World
  • Business
  • Economy
  • Election 2020
  • Elections in History
  • Cartoons
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Commentary
  • Guest Column
  • Analysis
  • Letters
  • In Person
  • Interview
  • Profile
  • Dateline
  • Specials
  • Myanmar Diary
  • Women & Gender
  • Places in History
  • On This Day
  • From the Archive
  • Myanmar & COVID-19
  • Intelligence
  • Myanmar-China Watch
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Food
  • Fashion & Design
  • Videos
  • Photos
  • Photo Essay
  • Donation

About The Irrawaddy

Founded in 1993 by a group of Myanmar journalists living in exile in Thailand, The Irrawaddy is a leading source of reliable news, information, and analysis on Burma/Myanmar and the Southeast Asian region. From its inception, The Irrawaddy has been an independent news media group, unaffiliated with any political party, organization or government. We believe that media must be free and independent and we strive to preserve press freedom.

  • Copyright
  • Code of Ethics
  • Privacy Policy
  • Team
  • About Us
  • Careers
  • Contact
  • Burmese

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Business
    • Economy
    • Business Roundup
  • Books
  • Donation

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.