Media Coverage
Source: Financial Times
Media Coverage
02.24.13
The U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), which oversees sanctions against a range of countries, issued a “general license” that allows U.S. citizens and companies to conduct most banking transactions with four of Myanmar’s biggest banks.
According to Aaron Hutman, an attorney in Pillsbury’s international trade practice in Washington, D.C., the move is important not least because it clears up confusion among U.S. financial institutions over the legality of banking dealings with several key banks in Myanmar.
He noted that anti-money laundering “special measures” applied by the U.S. to Myanmar and its financial institutions remain in place and have generally impeded correspondent banking relationships with U.S. as well as international financial institutions. Although the Treasury Department last year broadly authorized U.S. financial institutions to open correspondent bank accounts with Myanmar banks, through a provision called General License 16, it did not explicitly give the green light, leaving many institutions hesitant about running afoul of U.S. financial restrictions on business activities in Myanmar.
Hutman added that this latest easing “offers a clearer message by OFAC that U.S. and multinational banks are authorized to transact with and via these four institutions.”