The World Bank Group’s private-sector arm is divesting its holdings in one of Myanmar’s largest banks nearly two years after a military coup, according to the lender’s largest shareholder.
First Myanmar Investment Co. has agreed to buy the International Finance Corp.’s 4.5% stake in Yoma Bank Ltd., according to Tun Tun, FMI’s executive director and chief operating officer. The Washington-based IFC didn’t immediately respond when asked about the sale.
“It’s true — we have already reached an agreement with IFC to buy 4.5% of its shares in Yoma Bank,” Tun Tun said. “We are buying out these shares through a transaction with Hong Kong-based Pun Holdings Limited.”
International firms and organizations have been under pressure to curb ties with Myanmar after the US and European nations led multiple rounds of sanctions targeting the coup leaders that toppled the civilian government led by Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021.
Yoma Bank is one of Myanmar’s largest lenders and was founded by local tycoon Serge Pun in 1993. Singapore’s sovereign wealth firm GIC Pte. and Norway’s Norfund AS are among shareholders of the bank, according to Yoma’s website. FMI currently holds 62% in Yoma.
Myanmar’s junta has held to power despite global condemnation and a raft of sanctions since the coup, penalties which have taken their toll on one of Southeast Asia’s poorest and most isolated nations. The Financial Action Task Force in October added Myanmar to a group of high-risk countries, known as the ‘black list,’ citing its failure to make enough progress in addressing illicit financial flows.
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Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd plans to withdraw from Myanmar by next year citing increasing “operational complexity”, the Sydney-based firm said in November.
Justice for Myanmar earlier published the IFC’s withdrawal plan. The investigative group accuses Yoma bank of doing business with the military and its conglomerates.
