Myanmar junta uses force on streets; US, UK target finances
March 25, 2021 GMT
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) As Myanmar’s junta used violence again Thursday to try to suppress protests against the military’s takeover, the United States and Britain announced tough sanctions against two holding companies that provide financial sustenance for the army regime.
The U.S. Treasury Department said its action against Myanma Economic Holdings Public Company Limited and Myanmar Economic Corporation Limited targeted the army’s control of large parts of the country’s economy, “which is a vital financial lifeline for the military junta.”
The sanctions against the two companies and their holdings blocks access to any property they control in the United States and effectively bars any U.S. person or company from conducting any sort of business with them, including supplying them with funds or providing goods or services. The department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control can make exception
Foreign banks cashing in on Myanmar’s brief economic liberalisation are facing new compliance headaches after fresh sanctions were imposed on the military junta, with the sector put on notice over further sanctions targeting the country’s energy and commodities sectors.
The US and UK announced co-ordinated sanctions in late March against the military holding companies Myanma Economic Holdings Limited (MEHL) and Myanmar Economic Corporation Limited (MEC), which the two governments said were enmeshed in broad sectors of the economy including mining, trade, banking, logistics, agriculture and manufacturing.
Myanmar’s military seized power in a coup on February 1, claiming irregularities in a January election in which Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy secured an overwhelming victory. The military ruled the country between 1962 and 2011, freeing Suu Kyi from 15 years of house arrest in 2010.
April 2, 2021
On March 25, 2021, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) imposed additional sanctions in response to the ongoing crisis in Myanmar (also called Burma) by designating the country’s two largest military conglomerates: (1) Myanmar Economic Holdings Public Company Limited (“MEHL”) and (2) Myanmar Economic Corporation Limited (“MEC”).
Because Myanmar’s military controls significant segments of the country’s economy, including trading, natural resources, and consumer goods, through these two companies, these designations are the most consequential sanctions measures that the Biden Administration has taken to-date in response to the situation.
Burma Sanctions Reach The Military-Industrial Complex - International Law mondaq.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from mondaq.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
US sanctions Myanmar s economic holdings companies - sanctions extend to all majority-owned subsidiaries | Eversheds Sutherland (US) LLP jdsupra.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from jdsupra.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.