KBZ
It’s not much of a contest in Myanmar’s CIB space. KBZ outreaches and out-muscles its competitors by some measure here too. Such heft opens doors, and KBZ is the first modern Myanmar bank to venture abroad, with offices in Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore to follow Myanmar’s trade routes and diaspora. Beijing and Tokyo will likely be next, then Western financial centres.
KBZ is positioning itself as the go-to bank in Myanmar’s next phase in opening the economy, for the country’s more confident home-grown exporters. To that end, the bank has pioneered modern international treasury and money markets in the country, and has rolled out foreign currency fixed deposits and money market deposit facilities with large regional banks.
In treasury services, KBZ was the first bank to implement e-trading platforms for foreign exchange and money markets. It also set up a system that allows trading of foreign bonds for clients. In January, it stepped into the Singapore bond market, and is now planning forays into Japan and Thailand, adding international leadership to its domestic hegemony.