Profiles of Burma's banks

Abstract

Following the banking crisis of 2002/03, the already opaque world of Burma’s banks became even murkier. Determining the current state of play of this sector is, accordingly, extraordinarily difficult and more than usually dependent upon conjecture, rumours, and other imperfect substitutes for knowledge. In the following, we attempt to distil what we know about Burma’s banks into a series of sketches of each. We begin with an examination of the state-owned institutions that once more dominate, before investigating each of the surviving private banks that once seemed to have much promise. The information employed below comes from a great variety of sources, some of which can be (and are) openly acknowledged, but many of which have been entrusted to BEW on condition of confidentiality. We would like, nonetheless, to thank all of those who have helped us peer however imperfectly) into the dark corners of Burma’s banking sector.31 page(s