Issue 34 MFSB Oi

Issue 34 | 19 December 2018
NEWS
Myanmar Financial ANALYSIS
COMPANIES
Services Brief DATA
Part of the Myanmar Financial Services Monitor

finance.frontiermyanmar.com
IN THIS WEEK’S BRIEF
This will be the last weekly brief of 2018.
COMPANY OF Our service will restart in the first week of January 2019.
THE WEEK We wish our subscribers a happy holiday and New Year!
Global Treasure Bank  Rates to rise on unsecured loans: CBM

(GTB) has hit its target to The central bank plans to allow banks to extend unsecured lending at
operate 160 branches by rates above the 13% cap
the close of 2018.
 Insurance reform update: the good, the bad and the uncertain
DEAL OF THE WEEK
The FRD claims it will complete the licensing process for foreign
insurers by April 2019, with a consultant now hired
 Data analysis: Yoma Bank loan growth

The FMI subsidiary is showing robust growth in loans and deposits
 Government to bolster bond market, looks to DFID funding

 CBM to boost deposit auctions
Ongo signed a  Interview: Shwe Lan CEO Eleonora Castaldo on supply chain finance
partnership agreement  KBZ to use Fusion Treasury
with Ananda for digital  Ongo partners with internet service provider
payment services on
 Bank branch network round up, 18 December
19 December.
 Formal migrant remittances jump
 CHIDB expands construction loan portfolio, reduces overdrafts
 Yoma's JZü accounts hit Ks18bn in five months
 CB Pay offers interest on mobile wallet accounts
 Project bank offers hope for infrastructure finance
 MADB approves Ks169bn winter loans for Ayeyarwady
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MYANMAR FINANCIAL DATA
SERVICES REPORT
 Selected local banks by saving and fixed deposit rates
Read FMR’s flagship  Local banks and insurers by branch network
report on the sector by
 Selected investment deals in Myanmar since 2018
clicking here
 Foreign exchange rates
 YSX stock prices
Myanmar Financial Services Brief, 19 December 2018 2
Banking This was the same conversation that The

Rates to rise on unsecured loans: CBM Myanmar Times used for its own, likely
erroneous, article.
The central bank will liberalise lending rates on
unsecured loans "soon", according to several It is, however, still possible that original report
media reports. is correct in that central bank plans to further
liberalise interest rates only once the credit
Last week, we noted that The Myanmar bureau is operational, which will be in a year
Times reported that the CBM would publish a or so.
directive on internet liberalisation - potentially
involving lowering the whole interest rate "Banks are lending based on collateral, and
band - once the newly licensed credit bureau is later, we will liberalise [interest rate] for
up and running. collateral-less lending soon," U Soe Thein was
quoted as saying by Daily Eleven.
We also noted that The Myanmar Times has a
recent history of misreporting or "It means that collateral-based lending can be
misunderstanding central bank statements on made at 13% interest rate, and [banks] can
interest rate policy, and that readers should be lend without collateral as well, but at a bit
cautious. higher rate. We are considering such a higher
rate [for non-collateral loans, and it will
happen soon," said U Soe Thein.
7Day Daily said separately, still quoting U Soe

Thein, that the interest rate cap for unsecured
lending will be "a bit" higher than the current
rate 13% ceiling.
That article also suggested that the central

bank would be issuing a statement or directive
on the matter early next year.
"[….] will be out in early January, and will

It seems that article may have been yet include interest rate liberalization, to enable
another misunderstanding. 7Day [banks] to lend without collateral, which
Daily and Daily Eleven both reported on 12 means [banks] can make collateral-based loans
December that in fact the central bank is at 13%. Non-collateral loan rate will be a bit
planning to liberalise rates only for unsecured higher", 7Day Daily quoted U Soe Thein as
lending and this will take place "soon". saying.
We note that the Myanmar Times own MFSM has reported several times on the
Burmese edition also reported this. central bank's drafting of five new regulatory
directives, which it plans to issue in 2019.
Both 7Day Daily and Daily Eleven articles cited
U Soe Thein, one of the deputy governors, as It is possible that U Soe Thein's comments
making the comments after the signing mean the regulator plans to issue a statement
ceremony between the Myanmar Credit on interest rate liberalisation along with
Bureau and Equifix New Zealand Services and its five directives in January.
Solutions.
In conclusion, we have multiple media reports Allowing banks to expand into unsecured cash-
that the central bank is planning to liberalise flow based lending at a higher interest rate
the interest rate on unsecured lending in 2019, would raise the NIM and ultimately - if used
and that we should expect a communication sensibly - improve banks' profitability.
from the central bank early next year.
But there are reasons to be cautious about
Banks have been pushing for some form of giving banks greater freedoms to set their own
interest rate liberalisation for years, and so to lending rates.
that extent the news is positive.
GIZ's latest banking report, for instance,
But it is worth outlining the arguments both doubts whether banks are able to
for and against liberalising interest rates at this demonstrate the "sound risk management"
stage, even if it risks irritating some members that would be a reasonable precondition for
of the banking community. interest rate liberalisation.
The arguments in favour are straightforward. Their report suggests that banks might first be
At present, the 13% cap stops banks properly required to demonstrate that they have not
pricing risk, whether the loan is unsecured or only proper risk management but adequate
not. loan appraisal systems in place before being
able to take advantage of interest rate
As a corollary, banks find it hard to expand liberalisation.
into riskier sectors like SMEs, which in
Myanmar make up the vast majority of There is no reason to think that the central
registered companies. bank will not set such requirements in its
forthcoming announcement.
The same is true of designing new products for
the consumer sector, or simply lending in In fact, the regulator has made similar
longer maturities. In each instance, the statements in the past to the effect that banks
inability to adjust the interest rate creates are free to experiment with unsecured lending
problems. provided they have proper risk management
systems.
Another related issue is the effect this 13% cap
- together with the 8% floor on deposits - has Some of the larger lenders, including CB
on bank's net interest margin (NIM). Bank, Myanmar Apex Bank and Yoma Bank,
have received support on designing modern
This 5% NIM is not particularly low for the credit appraisal systems and are already
region, but banks repeatedly claim that their experimenting with cash-flow based lending to
true NIM is around 1%. If true this would make the SME sector.
it easily the lowest in the region.
We believe that a modest adjustment in
Reasons why the true NIM might be very low unsecured rates, reliant on demonstrating
include: many banks are not actually receiving systems like these are in place and running,
interest payments on the bulk of their loans would be a sensible first step on the path to
(often actually overdrafts not term loans) interest rate liberalisation.
and loan-deposit ratios are very low.
Low loan deposits ratios are partly a function

of regulatory requirements and the need to
keep a prudent capital buffer.
Insurance He also confirmed what was already widely

Insurance reform update: the good, the bad expected in the industry, that foreign firms will
and the uncertain form joint-ventures to enter the general
insurance market but will have the option of
The licensing process for foreign insurers operating as 100% foreign entities in life
should be finished by the end of April next insurance.
year, according to U Thant Zin of the Financial
Regulatory Department (FRD), who also hinted At present, domestic life insurers are required
at tariff liberalisation in the near future. to post Ks6bn in paid-up capital and the figure
for general insurers is Ks40bn. U Thant Zin said
But insurance executives - local and that these requirements will be the same for
international - still have a laundry list of other foreign insurers.
regulatory changes they want to see made.
Finally, the FRD executive said there was a
U Thant Zin was speaking at a conference commitment to liberalising pricing on
organised by the UK government’s insurance policies, although no timeline was
Department of International Trade (DIT) on 12 given on when this might happen.
December. He appeared on several panels and
made several statements that will change The uncertain
industry expectations on the liberalisation
process. MFSM notes that the “16 week” or “probably
April” timeline for the licensing process is far
more precise than any previous estimate from
the FRD or other government figures, which
have tended to be this or that financial year.
However, finalising the licensing process is not

the same as issuing licenses.
The procedure U Thant Zin outlined was as

follows: the government will make an official
announcement on licenses at the end of
December or early January.
Then the FRD will invite expressions of interest

The good from foreign insurance rep offices. After
reviewing these EOIs, the FRD will then send
The FRD official said that the government has requests for proposals to the rep offices. Then,
already hired a consulting firm to help design it will make a short list of potential licensees.
the licensing process. He did not name the
firm, but Myanmar Financial Services It is this procedure that U Thant Zin said,
Monitor can confirm that PwC was selected. explicitly, would take just 16 weeks. Observers
are likely to be skeptical of the timeline.
This licensing process will take “only 16”
weeks, according to U Thant Zin. The FRD Foreign insurers have estimated that once
plans to have finished in the first half of 2019 they have a license it would likely take a year
and “probably April”, he added. to open doors and being operations.
Joint ventures would likely be faster, but at “When we [in Thailand] moved to RCB it was
this rate the first 100% foreign-owned life complete havoc,” he said, adding that the Thai
insurers will be appearing in the middle of regulator gave firms a four year staggered
2020. adoption period. Part of the reason for the
havoc was that the Thai insurance market was
When it comes to tariff liberalisation, beyond larger and more developed when it moved to
the fact the FRD knows it needs to happen, RBC. Myanmar has the advantage of very low
things are less clear. insurance penetration, very low outdated
premiums and relatively high capitalisation.
Speaking on an insurance panel, U Aung Htun,
co-founder and director of Myanmar “Better to move to RBC now when you have so
Investments International, said he was nervous little premium and risk and you are over-
at the idea of Myanmar developing new capitalised,” U Aung Htun said.
policies at the same time as changing tariff
pricing. The bad
“There is a lot of risk,” he said. The FRD’s U Thant Zin had to listen to several
complaints from the insurance sector
Although not a fan of a set tariff market - in throughout the panel.
Thailand firms found ways around them and
competed on price anyway - it is only possible One was that the regulator’s reticence to allow
to set pricing if you have data, U Aung Htun firms to experiment was “killing” innovation,
told attendees. particularly when it came to new products.
“I have consultants that do product design, but “[Right now] product design does not cater to
they do not have Myanmar data,” he said. the public [and then] regulatory framework is
“They have a proxy for Myanmar data.” holding things back,” said AMI Managing
Director U Myo Min Thu.
U Aung Htun suggested Myanmar follow
Thailand, which also started with a tariff set by Another key complaint from insurers is that
the regulator but turned this into a pricing the regulator does not allow firms to have
band. their own agents.
“Over time when you see real results [you can] “We have no tied agents, just general agents,”
change the band,” he said. “But it’s all about said U Myo Min Thu. “So it’s hard for
data.” companies to commit to [training and
investing in ] agents and help their company
Another uncertain regulatory issue is the move grow.
to risk-based capital (RBC). Grand Guardian
Insurance, one of the few commercial insurers U Aung Htun agreed. “The whole distribution
with even a partly digital operating system, has model in Myanmar is totally flawed,” he said,
completed a trial of the new RBC system. But pointing different company strategies will
rolling this out to other insurers still reliant on necessitate different agent strategies. “Allow
manual spreadsheet-based calculations will be companies to develop their own agency model
difficult. with their own agents.”
Here, however, U Aung Htun’s experiences in

Thailand lead him to recommend moving to
RCB in Myanmar as soon as possible.
Banking
Data analysis: Yoma Bank loan growth
First Myanmar Investment (FMI) published its

interim results this week, which included
details of subsidiary Yoma Bank's balance
sheet. We take the opportunity to look at how
the balance sheet of one of the larger and
more sophisticated local banks is growing.
First up is loans, where Yoma Bank is showing

robust growth: For the first time, FMI has published data on
the proportion of Yoma's loan book that is past
due but not impaired.
As of March 2018, 38% of the bank's loan and

advances were past due although not
impaired, which had risen to 54% in
September 2018.
However, it appears that the proportion of the

loans and advances that are past due is all
receivables, as the total figures for
receivables past due and total loans and
In terms of percentage movement there is only advances past due are identical.
a slight sign of a slowdown in loan growth.
Loans and advances grew 16% between March The graph below breaks down the receivables
2017 and September that year, then 14.6% to past due but not impaired:
March 2018, and just over 13% from March till
September this year.
MFSM notes that there were reports of several

banks, including some of the larger ones,
severely curtailing lending in the wake of the
prudential regulations released in July 2017.
In terms of loan growth, Yoma Bank seems to

have been largely unaffected by the regulatory
change. The percentage drop could easily be
explained by a dearth of viable borrowers or a
focus on smaller loans to the SME and MFSM notes that in 2017 Yoma started an
agricultural sectors, something the lender is unsecured lending programme to the
highly focussed on. agricultural sector initially focussed on seeds,
fertilisers and pesticides.
Yoma Bank, for instance, has become by far
the largest local lender to the microfinance The bank works with input suppliers to
sector as part of its agribusiness finance improve liquidity in the system, which extends
initiative. from input suppliers through to dealers and
down to individual farmers.
Yoma Bank discounts the receivables of an JZü is an interest bearing account categorised
input suppliers’ top dealers, and this extension within the "call" family of accounts, but with a
of credit allows the input supplier to increase sweepstake reward scheme. The product was
sales. "Through the product, the payment soft launched in July and as of mid-December
obligation of the dealer to the input supplier is total JZü deposits totalled Ks18bn.
essentially financed by the bank," it said.
Capital Market
Government to bolster bond market with
Dealers must have a "satisfactory track record" DIFID funding
of at least two years with the supplier in order
to qualify for programme. The regulators are working on a bond market
masterplan and the creation of a bond market
FMI has also provided a breakdown of trade association in order to address the other half
financing separated from other of loans and of Myanmar’s underdeveloped capital
advances, although trade finance only market.
accounts for a very small percentage of the
portfolio. The UK Government’s Department for
International Development (DFID) is funding
£4m to help support development which will
be carried out through the Asian Development
Bank (ADB).
The three year ADB-led project will be

focussed on improving the government bond
market and creating a local currency fixed
income market.
It will begin with a diagnostic phase, “which

will include assessments of the legal
Deposit growth is also continuing to grow framework underlying capital market
strongly. In percentage terms, deposits grew development, financial infrastructure such as
9% between March and September 2017, 15% the clearing and settlement system,
through to March 2018 and 11% between accounting standards, and the capacity of
March and September this year. regulators and policymakers,” according to an
announcement made at last week’s UK Capital
MFSM notes that Yoma Bank started a new Markets conference, which was attended by
deposit product this year. the MFSM.
After an assessment phase the ADB and DFID Fellow panellist Neville Daw, head of the YSX
will work with the government on a capital special task force, said that he was “a great
market development plan. This will provide a believer in bond market associations. [They]
stronger legal and regulatory framework for can really make market development better.
bond issuance. [The] idea is that they are there to assist
ministries around obstacles.”
Financial industry executives have frequently
pointed out Myanmar’s unfortunate decision He added that in this case it was being pushed
to build up an equity market first before because people from “outside” think it best,
developing a bond market. and that it was important the association was
“done at a Myanmar level.”
There also seems to be a lack of clarity at the
regulatory level about what the key issues
around bond market development are.
A recent bond market panel at last week’s

capital markets conference, for instance,
provided more confusion than clarity.
Two things did emerge from the discussion.

Daw Thin Thin Su from the Ministry of
Planning and Finance’s (MoPF) Treasury
Department said the government is working
on a bond market masterplan, which will Speaking from the floor as a non-panellist,
include developments for the primary and Daw Tin May Oo of the Securities and
secondary markets. Exchange Commission of Myanmar, gave
statements both on the bond market in
“[The] bond market master plan [will be] general, and on the outlook for an association.
provided with help from ADB experts,” she
said. “Now we and the MoPF are reviewing the She said that the regulators will not be starting
master plan. Then we have to get comments, a bond market association soon. Instead, there
then review again, then we publish this master will be a new committee formed by members
plan.” of the SECM, the central bank and the
Treasury Department.
On the plus side, it is positive the government
is working on bond market development. On This committee will work on how to develop a
the negative, government masterplans tend to secondary market in government bonds, and
take a very long time to put together and until could later “be the basics of the bond market
then, all private sector efforts to experiment association.”
within the sector in question are shelved.
There appears to be some confusion or
Daw Thin Thin Su also said a bond market disagreement between the SECM and the
association was on the cards, which could be MoPF over when the bond market association
one way for the private sector to help the will appear and how.
regulator move things forward.
But in the meantime, the priority seems to be
a government-directed masterplan and yet
another committee formed by regulators.
Whether these developments should be At the panel discussion, Daw Tin May Oo said
viewed as positive may depend on one’s faith that the SECM had “encouraged securities
in regulatory committees and masterplans. companies to conduct a secondary market but
only two [had participated].” She also noted
Panellist Liew Chee Seng, deputy managing that nine branches of Myanma Economic Bank
director at CB Bank, said he encouraged are allowed to trade government bonds.
“frequent consultation with the private sector
players.” So the securities companies, branches of state
banks and commercial banks are all allowed -
“I have the feeling the authorities can’t in theory - to trade government bonds.
develop the idea of a bond market among
themselves,” he said. “If you have feedback “Even though trading volumes are not very big,
from an early stage the market gets on with it, they have [been] trading,” Daw Tin May Oo
rather than waiting for regulations to be argued at the panel discussions. “So still
drafted and reviewed internally.” trading markets exist.”
The comments from Daw Tin May Oo and Daw This statement, however, runs slightly counter
Thin Thin Su, however, give little hope the to what commercial banks say is happening.
government regulators share this perspective. Bank executives say there is no government
bond trading on the interbank market.
The state of the secondary market
One commercial bank executive said the only
The government bond market master plan and secondary trading he was aware of was one of
the committee hinted at by the SECM’s Daw the securities firms, which we understand to
Tin May Oo will both deal with improving the be the Myanmar Securities Exchange Centre
secondary market for government bonds. (MSEC).
But the parts of the panel discussion around The moderator, ADB financial sector
the current state of the secondary government economist Sophie Duong Nguyen, said that in
did not suggest that the government is dealing its support for bond market development the
with the issues or is even aware of the ADB plans to start with a diagnostic phase to
problems. identify the key challenges and understand
what is happening.
MFSM notes that in February, the ADB
published its ASEAN+3 Bond Market Guide “Right now I see that the private sector is
2018: Myanmar. In it, the ADB states that: saying it [the secondary market] is not working
and the public sector says it already allows
“The trading of bonds and notes in the [trading],” she said. “So maybe the ADB and
Myanmar bond market presently occurs only other development partners need to bridge
in the interbank market, between CBM and its the gap.”
constituents, among participating financial
institutions and securities companies, and as Our understanding of the situation is that
purchase and sale transactions at the counter government bonds continued to be issued at
of Authorised Selling Agents appointed by highly unattractive interest rates. This
CBM.” inevitably reduces their demand as an
investment product.
The new prudential regulations in the banking But this anomaly was due to the participation
sector have given banks other ways to meet of state-owned Myanma Economic Bank as a
capital requirements, which has also reduced competitive bidder.
appetite.
Former CBM deputy governor U Set Aung said
The general demand for bonds is minimal, and at a lower house of parliament meeting in
there is, to our understanding, no regulation 2015, that MEB had been undercutting
governing secondary market trading or a deposit auction bids because its excess
dedicated trading platform that banks or other liquidity came from current accounts held by
entities could use. governmental departments on which MEB
pays no interest. Government deposits can
Monetary Policy only open current accounts with MEB.
CBM to boost deposit auctions
This allowed MEB to accept deposit auction
The Central Bank of Myanmar (CBM) is to interest rates far lower than commercial
make more funds available through its deposit banks, which have to pay interest rates to their
auction in order to maintain financial stability, depositors.
the deputy governor U Soe Thein said in a
news video posted by The Irrawady. "The auction became more successful after
setting MEB as a non-competitive bidder", said
"Banks have excess [liquidity], and thus, the U Set Aung.
central bank is absorbing money [from banks]
through deposit auctions to help them reduce From 2012 to date, the central bank has
losses, as well as [for the central bank] to cut accepted total deposits of Ks31.6trn, according
inflation", said U Soe Thein. to central bank data.
"We spend 'no small amount' of money on Defending dollar auctions

deposit auctions every year, and will increase
doing so. Because we spend money for Myanmar Financial Services Monitor notes
financial stability, and profit is not [our] that the CBM recently defended its purchasing
motive, but it doesn't mean that we are of dollars through its separate foreign currency
spending wastefully", he added. auctions.
The central bank launched deposit auctions The central bank sells - and less often buys - US
back in early 2012, as part of its contractionary dollars at daily auctions. Ostensibly, this is
monetary policy, and it accepts deposits in done to help it set a daily reference rate for
four maturities: 7, 14, 28 and 42 days. dollar-kyat conversion, although since 2017
the central bank has relied on the more active
Since the facility began, the weighted average interbank market to set its rate
interest rate (WAR) of commercial bank bids
has ranged between 0.25% to 7.5%. Banks are usually net buyers of dollars because
several factors reduce the availability of
The 0.25% figure - substantially lower that the foreign currency in the banking system.
market savings and call deposit rates - was
recorded for the period between 2013 and Myanmar runs a large trade deficit, trade
2015, according the central bank statistics. receipts are often either not repatriated or
held in the informal sector and the interbank
currency market functions poorly.
Shifts in the exchange rate can lead to banks PE/VC

selling dollars back to the central bank, which Interview: Shwe Lan CEO Eleonora Castaldo
itself struggles to maintain a safe amount of on supply chain finance
reserves to cover import financing.
In early November, Seedstars, Thura Swiss and
Typically, the central bank has enough foreign the DaNa Facility, funded through the UK
reserves to cover three months of import Government’s Department for International
financing. Development (DFID), announced a joint
investment of over $1.9m into a project to
The central bank purchased over $37.7m at improve financing for Micro, Small and
foreign currency auctions over a two-week Medium Size Enterprises (MSMEs) in
period ending 7 December, drawing criticism Myanmar.
from the public that the central bank was
spending public money carelessly. Shwe Lan, a venture between Seedstars and
Thura Swiss, will manage the project, which
U Soe Thein responded that this was a market will initially focus on supply chain financing.
intervention that the central bank "has to do
occasionally, to prevent the exchange rate A merchant finance product will be offered to
from dropping or rising hugely, and it also has distributors for large local firms, and an invoice
to purchase [dollar] in the market to reinforce financing product to help MSMEs use invoices
its foreign reserve." as collateral for loans.
MFSM notes that deputy governor also The aim is to eventually introduce an open e-
appeared to distance himself from the dollar platform that companies and finance providers
purchasing, perhaps suggesting there was can use to create an efficient and formal
some division at the bank over what to do. supply chain finance market for Myanmar.
"I am not sure that the central bank's decision MFSM spoke to Shwe Lan CEO Eleonora
[to purchase dollars in that period] is right or Castaldo about the challenges and benefits of
wrong, and it depends on how you see, as introducing new supply chain products.
[foreign exchange management] is not under
my operation [at the central bank]", U Soe
Thein said. Can you describe the main areas of operation
for Seedstars in Myanmar?
We also note that the central bank has made
similar and even larger purchases in recent Seedstars has a wide range of investment and
years when the exchange rate has been capacity-building activities, all aiming to
volatile. impact lives in emerging markets through
technology and entrepreneurship. In
In early 2016, the regulator purchased over Myanmar, this will manifest mainly through
$40m in just five days to calm the market after ecosystem and capacity-building activities.
the kyat rallied strongly against the dollar.
In mid-February we will be opening a
"Profit is not the priority [for the central bank] coworking space as the launch of the Yangon
for spending money, but financial stability is. Innovation Center, in partnership with the
People should largely bear in mind that," U Yangon Region Government and CB Bank- right
Soe Thein said. across from the Stand Hotel and right on the
river, so a great view!
So for introducing the system to Myanmar is

the architecture already there and it's just a
question of adapting it?
The architecture is there, so there is an

existing platform that can adapt around
several existing business models, there is - of
course - some adaptation needed to the local
business environment.
So the MSME project has a merchant

The space will house training programs and financing and an invoice discounting aspect.
weekly events for entrepreneurs, as well as Do you introduce them in tandem?
longer-term educational programs to build the
next generation of innovative startups in We are starting with the merchant financing
Myanmar. first. This fits with our experience in other
markets, where we’ve see there is a large
We’ll do our best to bring in our regional and demand for this type of product and its a less
international network along the whole crowded space generally. In the case of
process, and to make the space a vibrant hub Myanmar, none of the financing areas we are
for innovation in Myanmar. targeting is crowded, so we see a lot of
appetite and potential.
Seedstars also creates and invests in new
ventures, one of which is ShweLan, which I am
leading, and which provides supply chain Do you focus on companies in certain
financing to MSME. sectors ?
No, we are generally open to any sector.

Why the choice of supply chain financing? We’ve talked to several companies in the fast
moving consumer goods and automotives
Through the competition Seedstars gets access sectors and had some discussions in the
to several innovative business models, that’s a agricultural sector.
good source of inspiration for the venture
building.
Can you talk through how the merchant
A few years ago we started in Nigeria setting financing works?
up a value chain financing platform, that
ended up being quite a success. Imagine you work with a company that has
distributors, wholesalers, retailers, and so on.
We later introduced the same platform in In this chain, people might not have access to
other countries. Then we had the opportunity credit. Perhaps a big distributor might have 10
of coming to Myanmar after winning the to 15 days of credit from the company, but the
Business Innovation Window from the DaNa smaller ones do not.
Facility.
We offer working capital to these distributors,
They liked the idea of business chain financing wholesalers and retailers to buy inventory
and so they agreed to us importing our project from the company.
to Myanmar.
They can repay the facility after few weeks, But the cost is enormous. They are often afraid
after they have sold their inventory. To of formalising this debt in case it gets them
facilitate this we generally work with the into trouble, so this is the situation we’re
company in question, which we call an dealing with. We can definitely offer a better
“anchor”. service, but we need to win this general
distrust.
Is it relatively straightforward to bring this
concept into the Myanmar market? Do you need a certain level of sophistication
in the anchor company or the distributors ?
There is a lot of demand for this product. Most
of the companies we have spoken with are Although we do connect with distributors our
interested in the product and there is a huge main focus is on the anchor company, where
need. an higher level of sophistication is expected.
How easy it will be is a different question. It The beauty of our model is that we can help
will require education at various levels, at the the anchor increasing its sales, by providing
company level for the company to understand financing to its distributors, while at the same
how this product can be introduced into their time use its help to disseminate and receive
operations without impacting their day to day information. So there is some flexibility there.
activity.
The heavier technological components are
At the distributor level, we need to explain required at the anchor company. But if it’s a
how the product works, the advantages and medium sized company that has regular orders
how they can apply for it. it will have, in one form or another, a system
already in place.
What are the main challenges? For the distributors, we are developing tech
solutions that will allow them to request the
I think one challenge is the distrust towards financing product.
the formal financial sector.
How large is the merchant financing you
In Myanmar, there is a high level of provide?
informality. It’s not that there isn’t financing
for MSMEs, but it is all informal. In some We are targeting the MSME segment, although
conversations we’ve had, people begin by in Myanmar that is more than 90% of
saying that don’t want a loan or financing. companies. Within this segment, we are
aiming at small and very small companies, so
But as the conversation progresses, they anything larger than the microfinance sector.
disclose that they have five, 10 even 15 loans Regulation has capped microfinance loans at
from family and friends. Ks10m, so we will start at that number and
above.
The monthly interest rate ranges anywhere
from 3% to 10%. So they are heavily indebted To clarify, we are not a lending company. We
from informal sector. work as operators with a network of
companies that have lending licenses. Right
This informal sector is very convenient as it’s now we have a partnership with a non-bank
on their doorstep and has very low or non- financing institutions (NBFI).
existent requirements.
So you will provide the platform that other Banking

banks and financing entities can use to KBZ to use Fusion Treasury
connect with companies?
KBZ has signed with Finastra to use its treasury
Yes, we can’t discuss names but we are talking management solution Fusion Treasury,
with a number of players. Finastra announced on 18 December.
Is there a time frame for rolling out the Myanmar's largest commercial bank is moving
system out? away from manual treasury processing
operations, and Fusion Treasury will enable
We are piloting merchSant financing now. We straight-through-processing (STP), the firm
started that in November in Yangon and said.
Mandalay. We pilot with different companies
and smooth the process out. "Finastra is helping us to overcome high
operational overheads associated with manual
A pilot takes three to four months depending processes, reduce time-to-market for new
on the length of financing we provide. It’s products and bring our operations and systems
mostly working capital so it’s meant to be in line with the standards of sophisticated
repaid and then retaken as a facility later on. developed markets," said KBZ managing
director Win Lwin.
If it’s longer term financing we need to wait
and see the effects. If you are financing fast
moving consumer goods that have a shelf life
of a few days then maybe the financing is only
for a few weeks. If the product has shelf life of
a two months then the pilot needs to cover
that.
Generally the financing is for inventory, so it’s

not long term loans. Going forward we can
consider offering longer term loans. It will be
similar for invoice discounting, which we will
start later but with a similar pilot period.
In the future can the merchant and invoice This is the fifth software system deal in the
products get more complex? Myanmar banking sector announced this year.
There are two answers, one is that things Fusion Treasury is built to handle "all aspects
become more complex because you work with of a bank’s operations in treasury, capital
more sophisticated companies that have more markets, derivatives, and risk and compliance,"
sophisticated products. the press release said.
The other longer term plan is that we know Finastra's regional partner Big Byte
who these merchants are and we know their International helped arrange the deal, and that
purchasing and repayment capacities, so we firm's CEO Amit Johari noted that Myanmar is
feel more comfortable offering them other - a "key growth market" for Big Byte.
more complex - financing products.
Yoma Bank, AYA Bank and First Private Bank In addition to traditional mobile money
have also signed partnerships with Finastra in services such as mobile top-up and money
the past. transfer, Ongo provides digital payment,
invoicing, and disbursement capabilities for
Click here to view a list of selected banking the fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) and
system transactions that have taken place in microfinance sectors.
recent years.
Ongo CEO Allen Gilstrap said, "FMCG
Digital Payment distributors like Coca-Cola use Ongo digital
Ongo partners with internet service provider cash collection services to digitize payments
from deliveries to their retailers and
Digital payment firm Ongo signed a wholesalers, which completely removes the
partnership agreement with 4G+ mobile need for cash collection".
broadband internet service provider Ananda
on 19 December. The firm also serves the microfinance and
consumer lending sector by providing digital
Ananda users will be able to add credit to their cash collection for loan disbursements and
accounts at Ongo agents as well as through repayments, said Allen.
Ongo and Ananda mobile applications. Ananda
products will also soon become available at Myanmar Financial Services Monitor notes
the Ongo agents. that in July, Ongo launched a digital payroll
service in partnership with Myanmar Oriental
Bank (MOB), which allows employers to pay
their employees into an MOB bank account
and withdraw their salary using an Ongo-MOB
MPU debit cards.
Allen said that Ongo is operating in 55

townships, and currently provides digital
payment services to over 110 major corporate
clients, 25,000 merchants and to nearly
400,000 consumer users.
Banking
We note that Ananda formed a partnership Bank branch network round up, 18 December
with the leading mobile financial services
provider Wave Money in October for a top-up In recent weeks, four local banks, Myanmar
service. Ananda began providing broadband Citizens Bank (MCB), Global Treasure Bank
internet in Yangon in early 2018, and is (GTB), First Private Bank (FPB) and Ayeyarwady
planning to extend its network to Mandalay by Farmers Development Bank (A Bank), have
the end of this year, according a 19 December opened nine new branches, in addition to an
press release. SME center.
Ongo is owned by Ireland-based Ronoc Asia, a Myanmar Citizens Bank (MCB)

joint venture between investment firm Ronoc With a new branch opened in Muse, MCB has
and fintech company OpenRevolution. It has extended its total branch network to 38.
been operating in Myanmar since 2015, with a
mobile banking license secured jointly with
Myanmar Oriental Bank (MOB).
The lender opened the last branch earlier this First Private Bank (FPB)
month, following four new branches in
November. The YSX-listed lender opened its 35th branch
in Ayeyarwady's Maubin township.
Myanmar Financial Services Monitor notes
that MCB has a target of 41 branches by the PFB said in August that it is planning to open
end of 2018, 61 by the close of 2019, and five new branches in Maubin, Myawady,
between 80 to 100 branches by 2020, Myaing, Mindat and Shwebo townships.
according to its "Vision 2020". The branches in Maubin, Myawady and
Myaing townships are already complete, the
one in Shwebo is under construction and
construction has not yet begun at the Mindat
branch.
A Bank
The young lender A Bank has opened its first

SME center at its Pathein branch on 12
December.
An A Bank executive previously told MFSM

that it is switching focus to agricultural and
SME loans, and aims to allocate 60% of its loan
Global Treasure Bank (GTB) portfolio to these areas. Other products
include retail loans and hire purchase.
GTB hit and even exceeded its 160-branch
target by 2018, by opening five new branches Since the beginning of the 2018-19 fiscal year,
on 12 December, followed by two more ten local banks – AYA, MCB, Myawaddy, GTB,
branches on 17 December. Four out of the A Bank, CB Bank, Yoma Bank, Innwa Bank,
seven new branches are located in Tanintharyi MOB, UAB and FPB – have opened a total of
region: 58 branches.
• 159th branch, Pala town, Tanintharyi Click here to view private bank rankings by
region branch network.
• 160th branch, Ngapali town, Rakhine state Banking

Formal migrant remittances jump
• 161st branch, Botepyin town, Tanintharyi
region The use of formal remittance services by
• 162nd branch, Leway town, Naypyitaw migrant workers jumped in July and August ,
according to the deputy planning and finance
• 163rd branch, Hinthada township, minister U Maung Maung Win.
Ayeyarwady region
According to private banks statistics, migrant
• 164th branch, Palaut town, Tanintharyi remittances were less than Ks10bn during the
region period between January and June 2018. The
total for the year then jumped to Ks34bn
• 165th branch, Kalaneaung township,
($21.5m) in July 2018, and then to Ks39bn
Tanintharyi region
($24.7m) in August 2018, said the deputy
• minister.
"This is due in part to the.. Ministry of Labor, There have been several partnerships in the
Immigration and Population raising awareness Myanmar remittance market this year. AYA
for migrant workers and close supervision on Bank inked a strategic partnership agreement
the overseas employment agencies", said U with Singaporean lender DBS on 3 December,
Maung Maung Win. which will see the two banks collaborate on a
remittance service called "Ya Lah!"
MFSM notes that closer supervision of these
employment agencies could reduce their use The agreement allows customers to transfer
of informal hundi networks for remittances funds in their accounts in DBS Bank and POSB
Bank to AYA Bank and through that lender to
U Maung Maung Win said at a lower house any accounts at any local bank in Myanmar.
meeting on 17 December that between 2016 AYA Bank said that initially it will be the
and June 2018, some 1.4m workers sent a only settlement bank for DBS Remittance to
total of $1.4bn (over Ks2trn using current Myanmar.
exchange rates) home through state-owned
and private banks. Fintech firm Everex signed a remittance
partnership with Shwe Than Lwin Group's
Shwe Bank in May. Everex in a post on 30 July
said that it had signed an agreement to
provide a “blockchain-powered digital
remittance services between Myanmar and
Thailand”.
The firm said workers would be able to send

money home at “much lower transaction costs
than traditional remittance methods” and that
“funds will be transferred via Everex’s digital
remittance platform.”
The bulk of this has been in the most recent MySQUAR partnered with Uber Remit and
fiscal year. U Maung Maung Win said that the Myanmar mobile money player OK Dollar to
ratio of migrant remittances to GDP was only implement a Singapore to Myanmar
0.81% in 2016-17 fiscal year, but had increased remittance service, which it soft launched in
to 1.06% in 2017-18. September.
Currently, there are 285 licensed overseas Funds from Uber Remit could be directly
employment agencies, and over 830,000 remitted to a few local banks, post office
workers were recorded to have left the branches, OK Dollar digital wallets and OK
country between 1990 and August 2018, of Dollar’s network of 8,000 agents across
which around 150,000 were recorded in 2018, Myanmar.
according to U Maung Maung Win.
MSQUAR announced it had temporarily closed
Although 19 destinations are approved for that business in December due to financial
migrant workers, they are currently working in problems that saw its shares removed from
only nine countries, including Malaysia, South the London Stock Exchange's AIM.
Korea, Singapore, Thailand, Japan, Macao,
UAE, Qatar and Jordan, mostly in Thailand,
Malaysia and South Korea, said U Maung
Maung Win.
Banking U Min Htein said that the bank has made total
CHIDB expands construction loan portfolio, housing loans of Ks40bn ($25.3m) to about
reduces overdrafts 3,000 customers who have already deposited
[20% of unit price] in their saving accounts.
Construction and Housing Infrastructure
Development Bank's total commercial and The Myanmar Times said in May that CHIDB
housing loan portfolio has increased, while has over 30,000 registered housing saving
overdraft lending and hire purchase loans fell accounts, and that, nearly 84% of account
in the 2017-18 fiscal year, the bank's managing holders are actually saving money. This fits
director U Win Zaw said at the annual general with Min Htein's estimate of 25,000 savers.
meeting on 16 December, according to
a Business Television article. MFSM also notes that the lender reduced its
housing loan interest rate from 12% to 10.5%
The article said that CHIDB has made a total of that same month.
Ks121.4bn ($76.9m) construction loans, in
addition to Ks80.8bn ($51.2m) commercial Banking
loans and Ks24.6bn ($15.5m). Yoma's JZü accounts hit Ks18bn in five
months
However, it is unclear if the data is only for the
fiscal year ending 31 March 2018, or the Yoma Bank has seen total deposits of Ks18bn
calendar year to date. ($11.4m) through its JZü accounts over the
past five months said Murray MacDougall, the
Meanwhile, overdraft lending and hire lender's chief performance officer on 17
purchase loan portfolios fell. After the July December.
2017 prudential regulations, the central bank
requires private banks to reduce overdraft JZü is an interest bearing account categorised
loans down to 50% of its loan portfolio by 6 within the "call" family of accounts, but with a
July 2018, to 30% by 6 July 2019 and finally to sweepstake reward scheme. It was soft
20% by 6 July 2020. launched on 2 July.
U Zaw Win also said that the bank plans to

extend branches in Dawei, Bago, Kachin,
Rakhine and Kayah states. CHIDB has opened
eleven branches thus far.
Separately, The Voice Daily reported CHIDB

chair U Min Htein as saying that about 25,000
housing saving account holders have
deposited over Ks22bn ($13.9m) at the bank.
CHIDB requires housing saving account holders

to have minimum deposit equal to 20% of the
government housing unit that they want to The bank offers a 3% annual interest rate,
buy. which is calculated on a daily basis and paid
monthly. Additionally, the sweepstake
The bank will extend credit for the remaining program will double the balance of JZü
80% for maturities ranging from eight to 15 account holding winners.
years.
Yoma Bank selects the random winners by a Myanma Apex Bank (MAB) started paying
computer process every month, with a third- interest on in its MAB mobile bank app in early
party law firm hired to oversee the November 2018.
sweepstake. It promises a total monthly
reward of Ks30m at minimal. However, MAB's rate is only 2% per year,
which is equivalent to the standard call deposit
JZü accounts, however, requires a minimum rate used by most local banks.
balance of Ks200,000 in order for savers to be
eligible for the sweepstake. Those that fall
below the sweepstake limit are only eligible
for the 3% interest.
Murray said the bank has attracted more than

17,000 JZü accounts in first five months, and
has rewarded over Ks230m to 122 JZü account
holders.
Mobile Money
CB Pay offers interest on mobile wallet
accounts
CB Bank is now offering customers interest on At present, around ten banks have digital
their accounts held on the lender's mobile banking platforms, though only KBZ, CB, MAB
wallet app CB Pay, the bank announced on 12 and AGD have wallet-based apps.
December.
KBZ Pay, CB Pay and MAB mobile bank all offer
The lender introduced CB Pay for customers similar functions and are available to
without CB Bank accounts in July 2018, customers without an existing deposit account
enabling them to register for an account with at those lenders. AGD Pay, however, is not yet
just a mobile number. available for customers who do not have
either an AGD bank accounts or credit card.
A CB Bank official told Myanmar Financial
Services Monitor that the interest rate on the Project Financing
CB Pay accounts is 8.25%, which is the same as Project bank offers hope for infrastructure
CB Bank's traditional saving rate. finance
Interest will be calculated and paid into The government is creating a project
customers' CB Pay accounts through the same information bank that could help it create a
process as CB Bank uses with traditional proper framework for public private
deposit accounts. partnerships (PPP) and pave the way for
improved project financing.
Local banks usually calculate saving interest
based on the lowest month balance, and pay The President’s Office published a Project Bank
interest into the accounts quarterly. notification on 30 November that defined the
project bank as “an interactive, web-based,
MFSM notes that CB Bank is not the first publicly accessible database or project
lender to attract mobile customers with information bank”.
interest rates .
This project information bank will include Various issues including the need for “proper
projects that government agencies are assessment, competitive bidding and getting
planning as part of the Myanmar Sustainable the best for the government” should be taken
Development Plan (MSDP), according to the into account before embarking on PPP
notification. projects, Peiris added.
U Soe Win, Minister of Planning and Finance, “If anything there are probably too many
said in October that the project bank was unsolicited projects floating around," he said.
being created with the aim of raising capital
for infrastructure. The President’s Office notification also lays out
plans for a dedicated PPP centre within the
finance ministry to develop, implement and
monitor PPPs.
The lack of project finance instruments was

raised at a UK government-organised
conference on 12 December.
Financial industry figures have long pointed

out that Myanmar’s decision to prioritise
developing its equity market before its bond
market was essentially back to front. This has
“The most effective and publicly-beneficial meant a lack of asset-based financing and
projects will be placed into the Project Bank, project bonds available in other markets.
where they will be reviewed and implemented
in accordance with the MSDP while drawing Speaking at that conference, AYA Bank CFO
funding from government funds and from the Azeem Azimuddin said that in other countries,
private sector and other sectors as well," he starting capital market development with asset
said. backed securities and government bonds “led
immediately to project finance bonds with
The President’s Office notification states the PPPs”.
projects in the information bank can have
“multiple financing mechanisms such as Sean Turnell, director of research at the
government's budget or development Myanmar Development Institute and special
assistance or Public Private Partnership (PPP)”. economic consultant to the State Counsellor
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, responded that project
The IMF recently finished its latest Article IV finance and asset backed securities would be
visit to Myanmar. At a media briefing on 13 part of the project bank’s development.
December, IMF mission chief Shanka J Peiris
said he viewed the project bank as a “building But he conceded that “not enough” had been
block” in the effort to building a proper PPP done on developing fixed income tools for
framework before public funds are put to infrastructure finance.
work. The IMF has provided technical
assistance on that front, he added. News of a project bank has been met with
concern by some commercial bank executives,
The IMF has discussed the need for a PPP who are concerned that the entity will serve to
framework, which Myanmar currently lacks, monopolise and bureaucratise project finance.
with the authorities he said.
Peiris, however, pointed out that the “banking Starting this winter, MADB has doubled loan
sector is going through a tough time and it’s sizes for non-rice growers to Ks100,000 per
not clear at all they should be doing project acre, though sizes for rice farmers remains
bonds or lending to long term projects”. unchanged at Ks15,000 per acre.
Myanmar’s commercial banks are in the MADB provides three seasonal loans a year -
process of restructuring non-performing winter, pre-monsoon and monsoon.
overdraft debt into term loans and raising
fresh capital in response to prudential The bank began issuing individual loans to
regulations introduced in 2017. farmers in the previous monsoon season, a
switch from its previous policy of using a joint
Banking liability approach.
MADB approves Ks169bn winter loans for
Ayeyarwady Under the new system, borrowers must
submit their original Form-7, a working permit
Myanma Agricultural Development Bank for farmland.
(MAD) has approved a total of Ks169.09bn
($107.1m) winter loans to be made to farmers The timeline for loans are as follows:
across Ayeyarwady Region, according to Daily
Eleven. • Winter loans – from 26 October to 31
December
The lender has only issued around 33% of its
proposed total loans so far. MADB has had to • Pre-monsoon loans – 1 January 2019 to 31
extend the disbursement deadline until the March 2019
end of January 2019, due to late loan
proposals being submitted. • Monsoon loans – 2 May 2019 to 30
September 2019
"Total fund approved by [our] head office for

this year is Ks169.09bn, of which some
Ks56.4bn ($35.7m) has been disbursed", said
MADB Ayeyarwady region branch manager U
Than Htay Aung.
U Than Htay Aung said that "we began making

winter loans since 26 October, though
disbursement has been slow in November".
Continued from page. 14: KBZ to use Fusion treasury
Below is a list of selected banking system transactions that have taken place in recent years:
Year Bank Software system Provider

GTB (then Myanmar Livestock
2012 and Fisheries Development Kastle Core Banking 3i infotech
Bank)
2013 CB Bank T24 Temenos
2014 Tun Foundation Bank Flexcube Oracle Financial Services
2015 KBZ Flexcube Oracle Financial Services
2015 Yoma Bank FusionBanking Essence Misys (later Finastra)
2016 Myanmar Apex Bank Flexcube Oracle Financial Services
2016 AGD Bank Finacle Core Banking Infosys Finacle
2017 GTB Finacle Core Banking Infosys Finacle
2017 First Private Bank FusionBanking Essence Misys (later Finastra)
2017 AYA Bank FusionBanking Misys (later Finastra)
2018 Myanmar Citizens Bank T24 Temenos
2018 CHDB T24 Temenos
2018 Myawaddy Bank Finacle Core Banking Infosys Finacle
2018 A Bank Finacle Core Banking Infosys Finacle
2018 KBZ Fusion Treasury Finastra
Selected banks by fixed deposit interest rates (as of December 2018)
1 Month 3 Months 6 Months 9 Months 1 Year 2 Years 3 Years
FPB - 8.25% 8.5% 8.75% 9% - -
KBZ 8% 8.25% 8.5% 8.75% 9% 10% 10.75%
Yoma 8% 8.75% 9.5% 9.75% 10% - -
AYA 8.25% 8.5% 9% 9.25% 9.5% - -
MAB 8.5% 9% 9.5% 9.75% 10% - -
MOB 8.5% 9.25% 9.5% 9.75% 10% - -
MMB 8.5% 9.25% 9.5% 9.75% 10% - -
AGD 8.7% 9.25% 9.5% 9.75% 10% - -
A Bank 8.85% 9% 9.25% 9.5% 10% - -
Myawaddy
Bank - 8.25% 8.5% 8.75% 9% 9.5% 10%
(Personal)
Myawaddy
Bank - - - - 8% 8.5% 9%
(Corporate)
CB Bank 9% 9.25% 9.5% 9.75% 10% - -
Shwe Bank 9% 9.25% 9.5% 9.75% 10% - -
TCB 9% 9.25% 9.5% 9.75% 10% - -
SMIDB 9% 9.25% 9.5% 9.75% 10% - -
MCB 9% 9.25% 9.5% 9.75% 10% - -
G Bank 9% 9.25% 9.5% 9.75% 10% - -
MD Bank - 9.25% 9.5% 9.75% 10% - -
Yangon City
- 9.25% 9.5% 9.75% 10% - -
Bank
GTB - 9.25% 9.5% 9.75% 10% - -

*KBZ rates are for personal accounts and corporate accounts are only available for 3 years at 8%.
Selected banks by saving interest rates (as of December 2018)
No. Bank Interest Rate
1 Innwa 9%
2 A Bank 8.7%
3 AGD 8.6%
4 SMIDB 8.5%
5 Yangon City Bank 8.5%
6 Shwe Bank 8.5%
7 Naypyitaw Sibin Bank 8.5%
8 TCB 8.5%
8.25% - 8.45%
9 GTB
(dependent on amount)
10 MD Bank 8.5%
11 MAB 8.25%
12 CHIDB 8.25%
13 Yoma 8.25%
14 MCB 8.25%
15 CB 8.25%
16 MMB 8.25%
17 UAB 8.25%
18 MOB 8.25%
19 G Bank 8.25%
8% (Corporate)
20 Myawaddy
8.25% (Individual)
21 AYA Bank 8%
22 KBZ 8%
23 FPB 8%
Local banks by branch network (as of December 2018)
No. Bank Branches

1 KBZ Bank 510
2 AYA Bank 241
3 CB Bank 214
4 Global Treasure Bank 165
5 Myanma Apex Bank 94
6 United Amara Bank 77
7 Yoma Bank 76
8 AGD Bank 75
9 Myawaddy Bank 61
10 Innwa Bank 54
11 Myanmar Oriental Bank 42
12 Myanmar Citizens Bank 38
13 First Private Bank 35
14 Tun Commercial Bank 24

15 SMID Bank 19
16 Asia Yangon Bank 13
17 CHID Bank 12
18 A Bank 10
19 Myanmar Microfinance Bank 9
20 Naypyitaw Sibin Bank 6
21 Shwe Bank 5
22 Yangon City Bank 5
23 Yadanabon Bank 3
24 Myanmar Tourism Bank 3
25 Rural Development Bank 2
26 G Bank 1
27 Mineral Development Bank 1

Total 1,795
Local insurers by branch network (as of December 2018)
No. Insurer Branches
1 Myanma Insurance 39
2 IKBZ 19
3 GGI 19
4 FNI 11
5 AMI 10
6 Capital Life 6
7 Global World 5
8 Aung Thitsa Oo 3
9 Young Insurance Global 2
10 EFI 1
11 Aung Myint Mo Min 1
12 CB Insurance 1
Total 117
Selected investment deals in Myanmar (since 2014)
Sale price
Date Investment Investors Sector
($m)
January 2014 Asia Beverages Group Yoma Strategic Holdings, Delta Capital 18.4 Alcohol
JV: Myanmar Investments Internation-

Myanmar Finance In-
September 2014 al Limited (MIL), Myanmar Finance 5 Financial services
ternational (MFIL)
Company (MFC) and Norfund
Apollo Towers Myan-

November 2014 TPG ~40 Telecoms
mar
Apollo Towers Myan- Myanmar Investments International

July 2015 21 Telecoms
mar Limited (MIL)
December 2015 Myanmar Distillery Co TPG 100-200 Alcohol
September 2016 Rangoon Tea House Anthem Asia N/A F&B
April 2017 Ruby Hill Microfinance Dragon Capital, Loi Hein Group N/A Financial services
JV: Myanmar Investments

Medicare Internation-
May 2017 International Limited (MIL) and 0.895 Healthcare
al Health & Beauty
Medicare Vietnam
Myanmar Supply
October 2017 Chain and Services and ThaiBev 742 Alcohol
Myanmar Distillery
Digital Classifieds
January 2018 Belt Road Capital Management 1.9 Technology
Group
March 2018 Easy Microfinance Delta Capital 7 Financial services
Belt Road Capital Management, IFC,
April 2018 Oway 14.7 Tech / transport
Daiwa PI Partners
May 2018 Yoma Micro Power IFC, Government of Canada, Norfund 28 Energy
May 2018 EXERA Myanmar Strategic Holdings 2.2 Security
Access Myanmar Dis- JV: Pernod Ricard, Yoma Strategic,

May 2018 N/A Alcohol
tribution Company Delta Capital, Win Brothers
Singapore Myanmar Investco Limited

June 2018 TPR Myanmar Limited 10.8 Telcoms
(SMI)
June 2018 MyPay MySQUAR 2.6 (£2m) Financial services
Marathon Myanmar
September 2018 Seed Myanmar Ventures 0.1+ Logistics
Company
September 2018 For Her Myanmar N/A N/A Media
Pyramid Solutions
September 2018 N/A N/A Listings/Media
(MyJobs)
September 2018 FMR Research Trust Venture Partners (TVP) N/A Research Firm
COMPANY UPDATES
A selection of recently-updated profiles from the Myanmar Financial Services Monitor.
Access is available to Premium Subscribers only.
• Central Bank of Myanmar (CBM) • Construction Housing and Infrastructure

• Financial Regulatory Department (FRD) Development Bank (CHIDB)
• Yoma Bank • Co-operative Bank (CB Bank)
• Global Treasure Bank (GTB) • MADB
• Myanmar Citizens Bank (MCB) • KBZ Bank
• First Private Bank • MUFG Bank
• A Bank • Ronoc Myanmar (Ongo)
DATA UPDATES
Foreign Exchange Rate

1900
1800
1700
19 Dec 2018
1600
USD Ks1573
1500 EURO Ks1790.5
1400 SGD Ks1148.5
1300 Yen 100 Ks1398.8
1200
1100
1000
3-Dec
4-Dec
6-Dec
7-Dec
30-Oct
31-Oct
12-Nov
13-Nov
14-Nov
15-Nov
16-Nov
19-Nov
20-Nov
23-Nov
26-Nov
27-Nov
28-Nov
29-Nov
30-Nov
10-Dec
11-Dec
12-Dec
13-Dec
14-Dec
17-Dec
18-Dec
19-Dec
1-Nov
2-Nov
5-Nov
6-Nov
8-Nov
9-Nov
USD EURO SGD Yen 100 Source: CBM
(19 December 2018) Yangon Stock Exchange (YSX) Quote (Myanmar Kyat)
1Y 1Y Yield Net
Stock Code Vol High Low Close
High Low Div % P/E Chg
13,000 10,000 FMI 00001 100 0.9 14 4,716 10,500 10,000 10,500 +500
3,150 2,750 MTSH 00002 230 7.6 9.6 8,789 3,000 3,000 3,000 -50
8,800 7,000 MCB 00003 200 2.7 23.9 400 7,300 7,300 7,300 0
27,000 22,000 FPB 00004 2,000 8.6 9.1 37 23,500 23,000 23,000 -500
3,200 2,750 TMH 00005 200 6.8 9 2,900 2,900 2,900 0
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Issue 34 MFSB Oi

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Issue 34 | 19 December 2018

Part of the Myanmar Financial Services Monitor

Global Treasure Bank  Rates to rise on unsecured loans: CBM

 Data analysis: Yoma Bank loan growth

 Government to bolster bond market, looks to DFID funding

Banking This was the same conversation that The

7Day Daily said separately, still quoting U Soe

That article also suggested that the central

"[….] will be out in early January, and will

Low loan deposits ratios are partly a function

Insurance He also confirmed what was already widely

However, finalising the licensing process is not

The procedure U Thant Zin outlined was as

Then the FRD will invite expressions of interest

Here, however, U Aung Htun’s experiences in

First Myanmar Investment (FMI) published its

First up is loans, where Yoma Bank is showing

As of March 2018, 38% of the bank's loan and

However, it appears that the proportion of the

MFSM notes that there were reports of several

In terms of loan growth, Yoma Bank seems to

The three year ADB-led project will be

It will begin with a diagnostic phase, “which

A recent bond market panel at last week’s

Two things did emerge from the discussion.

"We spend 'no small amount' of money on Defending dollar auctions

Shifts in the exchange rate can lead to banks PE/VC

So for introducing the system to Myanmar is

The architecture is there, so there is an

So the MSME project has a merchant

No, we are generally open to any sector.

So you will provide the platform that other Banking

Generally the financing is for inventory, so it’s

Allen said that Ongo is operating in 55

Ongo is owned by Ireland-based Ronoc Asia, a Myanmar Citizens Bank (MCB)

The young lender A Bank has opened its first

An A Bank executive previously told MFSM

• 160th branch, Ngapali town, Rakhine state Banking

The firm said workers would be able to send

U Zaw Win also said that the bank plans to

Separately, The Voice Daily reported CHIDB

CHIDB requires housing saving account holders

Murray said the bank has attracted more than

The lack of project finance instruments was

Financial industry figures have long pointed

"Total fund approved by [our] head office for

U Than Htay Aung said that "we began making

Continued from page. 14: KBZ to use Fusion treasury

Year Bank Software system Provider

2014 Tun Foundation Bank Flexcube Oracle Financial Services

2015 KBZ Flexcube Oracle Financial Services

2015 Yoma Bank FusionBanking Essence Misys (later Finastra)

2016 Myanmar Apex Bank Flexcube Oracle Financial Services

2016 AGD Bank Finacle Core Banking Infosys Finacle

2017 GTB Finacle Core Banking Infosys Finacle

2017 First Private Bank FusionBanking Essence Misys (later Finastra)

2017 AYA Bank FusionBanking Misys (later Finastra)

2018 Myanmar Citizens Bank T24 Temenos