30 November, 2019
The Central Bank of Myanmar (“CBM”) has on 7 November 2019 announced a third round of foreign bank licensing to be granted to foreign banks with representative offices in Myanmar. The first two rounds, in 2014 and 2016 respectively, were successful and a total of 13 foreign banks were granted permission to open branches and operate onshore wholesale banking businesses.
In this third round, there will be two types of licenses issued and foreign banks can apply for either a branch or subsidiary licence. For a branch licence, the wholesale banking permissible products and services remains unchanged, however for a subsidiary licence foreign banks are permitted to conduct wholesale banking and also retail banking activities beginning from 1 January 2021. Subsidiary licence holders will be allowed to establish up to 10 branches or off-site ATMs with a minimum paid up capital of USD100 million required for operation.
Furthermore, existing foreign bank branches with minimum of three years of activities as a branch in Myanmar can convert their branch licence to subsidiary licence starting from June 2020 upon submitting a request for conversion to the CBM. Further information on the conversion process will be issued by CBM in due course.
For more information, please contact:
Geraldine Oh, Resident Partner, ZICO Law Myanmar
geraldine.oh@zicolaw.com
