ANZ Wins Final Approval For Myanmar Office

Tom Burroughes

1 October 2015

Australia and New Zealand Group has won final regulatory clearance to open a branch in Myanmar after having secured preliminary approval last October, a move that highlights how the country is starting to return to the international fold after years of isolation.

ANZ said it had won the approval from the Central Bank of Myanmar; there will be an official opening of its Yangon office tomorrow.

The bank said it will serve multinational and joint venture companies with a presence in Myanmar from the new branch, as well as international companies looking to enter Myanmar from ANZ’s network countries. It will offer specialist banking services for natural resources, utilities and infrastructure, telecommunication, consumer goods and other global diversified sectors that are expanding in Myanmar. The bank made no reference to the private client or retail side of its business.

Other foreign banks have won licences recently to operate in Myanmar, including Singapore's Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp (OCBC) and United Overseas Bank (UOB), and a number of Japanese lenders. After years of being ostracised internationally for its human rights record and military rule, the country has begun to open up – the US lifted sanctions against the country in 2013. Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, is rich in mineral and energy resources although remains a relatively poor nation compared with its Asian neighbours.

“This licence approval is a final step in our plans to deepen our presence in the Greater Mekong, following the recent branch opening in Thailand,” ANZ chief executive for international and institutional banking, Andrew Géczy, said.