End Transactions with Burmese Banks

All transactions with two sanctioned Burmese banks must have been wound down by August 5, according to the State Department.

In June, the United States designated two of Burma’s military regime-controlled banks, Myanma Foreign Trade Bank and Myanma Investment and Commercial Bank.

Both banks have been instrumental in facilitating the regime’s use of foreign currency to procure arms and jet fuel abroad and to access international markets using offshore accounts. Through these offshore accounts, MFTB and MICB have facilitated the regime’s profiteering from Burma’s extractive industries, including oil and gas, teak, gemstones, and other natural resources.

The designations of MFTB and MICB impose a significant impact on the regime’s ability to fund the violence it inflicts on the people of Burma.

At the time of the designation of these two banks, the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control issued General License 5 to allow entities engaging in transactions with MFTB and MICB to wind these down in an orderly fashion.

Following the expiration of GL 5 on August 5, the United States will continue to carefully monitor compliance and scrutinize transactions with an MFTB or MICB nexus to counter evasion or other behavior that contravenes the intent of these designations and US policy.

“We will pursue enforcement actions as appropriate,” according to State.