Myanmar

CB Bank was a pioneer of premium banking in Myanmar, launching its Prestige brand in 2015. These are very early days for private banking in Myanmar: the wealthy still prefer to place money in Singapore and Bangkok, out of reach of covetous state fingers in a country still some way from a reliable rule of law and secure democracy.

The May tour by English football team Leeds United may not have won Leeds many friends outside Myanmar, as foreign critics railed against touring a country that ethnically cleanses its Rohingya Muslim minority, but that wasn’t the point for tour sponsor Ayeyarwady Bank – its focus was all domestic.

Pact Myanmar, the NGO that manages Pact’s development portfolio in the country, is one of the largest non-profits operating in Myanmar and has been active since 1997. With funding from a mix of private and public backers such as USAid, 3MDG, Chevron, Coca Cola and Ooredoo, its development programmes reach three million people.

In an emerging economy where an estimated 90 to 95 out of every 100 registered businesses are small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), Zaw Zaw’s Ayeyarwady Bank wins plaudits from its peers for its lively SME business.

OCBC’s Daniel Tan has carved out an inventive franchise in Myanmar, in spite of the retail and commercial limitations that foreign banks operate under in the country.

As Myanmar’s primary resources sector opens up and more deposits are found, CB Bank expects a bonanza. This year, CB Bank says it captured the bulk of the market in letters of credit issuance for oil and gas-related clients.

Few banks dominate their own market like KBZ in Myanmar, which covers close to half of all banking transactions made in this young market. KBZ is the most advanced of Myanmar’s homegrown banks. Now with Asian banking stalwart Mike de Noma – a veteran Standard Chartered banker and former CTBC chief executive in Taiwan – installed at the helm, founder Aung Ko Win has shown that he wants the bank to vault ahead of the competition as the country embarks on deeper economic reform.

Few banks dominate their own market like KBZ in Myanmar, which covers close to half of all banking transactions made in this young market. KBZ is the most advanced of Myanmar’s homegrown banks. Now with Asian banking stalwart Mike de Noma – a veteran Standard Chartered banker and former CTBC chief executive in Taiwan – installed at the helm, founder Aung Ko Win has shown that he wants the bank to vault ahead of the competition as the country embarks on deeper economic reform.

Three years after it was founded, Yangon Stock Exchange is marooned, which doesn’t augur well for developing the capital markets.