We took it as a challenge and
we were not going to give up!,
thunders Pun. He set out
to revolutionise the remittance
system, using satellite
communications so that he
could give his customers the
option to remit money to even
the remotest areas.
In a conversation with Tony Ong,
Chairman of Northern Mining Limited,
someone who knows Myanmar
and Pun well, says: “Myanmar is
still a fairly closed market with a
relatively small number of prominent
players. Unfortunately, sometimes,
diplomats and foreign investors
rely on a grapevine that comprises
a very small circle of people for
commercial intelligence. Depending
on who you listen to, this grapevine
may be inaccurate that it may cause
lost opportunities. Worst still is
when one relies on misinformation
that is tainted by old biases under
the old regime”.
“So should one believe this
misinformation, or the number
of successful global players and
conglomerates that are convincingly
looking to partner with Pun? Surely
their assessment must carry more
weight. We all know that the due
diligence process undertaken by
multilaterals and global MNCs are
very rigorous to say the least.”
Recently too, a Thomson Reuters
Foundation article highlighted the
efforts of a few activists who are
urging IFC, the financing arm of the
World Bank to reconsider a $30 million
loan to Yoma Bank, owned by Pun.
The article references a supposed
US embassy cable released by
Wikileaks six years ago that
recommended that Pun be subjected
to US financial sanctions, alongside
other known cronies of the regime.
That alleged recommendation was
never applied on Pun.
Pun speculates that the activists’
main target might be at something
far bigger than him personally.
He remains unperturbed by the
allegations, saying “I know what I
have done in the past and what I am
doing today, and I am totally at peace
with my actions.” There are no skeletons
hiding in his metaphorical closet.
Businessmen who know Pun laughed
off the suggestions that Pun might be
a crony of the regime. Caterpillar’s
Khin Maung Win finds the accusations
absurd and says that Pun “would be
the last person in the world to qualify
as a crony”.
Khin continues with a chuckle: “Pun
doesn’t really socialise well with
government officials.”
In fact, Pun’s pursuit of transparency
occasionally steered him and his
then-burgeoning businesses towards
danger. He recalls how his refusal
to “play ball” in the past meant that
he constantly had to deal with the
possible threat of the junta taking
over or closing his businesses down.
The man, however, does not bow
down easily and had planned for that
possibility. If his businesses were
to fall into the hands of the regime,
he wanted the ownership of his
companies to be distributed among his
employees. “I want to see them try to
take the business from them!”
BACK AGAINST THE WALL
Dramatic? Yes. But Pun is a fighter
and when you back him into a corner,
he comes out swinging. For the best
demonstration of this incredible
tenacity, you only need to look
back a decade ago. In 2003, during
a financial crisis The Economist
cleverly dubbed the Kyatastrophe,
Pun openly disagreed with the
decisions made by the general who
was handling the fiasco.
He thought the actions the general
was taking would lead Myanmar to
irrecoverable financial ruin. Pun was
right and Myanmar plunged into an
economic abyss. Two of the largest
private banks were shut down and
rumourmongers were speculating
that Pun’s Yoma Bank was next. The
knock on the door did come but the
messengers bore different news. Pun
could keep his banking licence but
was not allowed to take in deposits
or give out loans, the main bread
and butter of any bank. Instead, his
bank could only carry out domestic
remittance services.
To any other bank, such a move
would have marked the beginning
of the end. Pun, as expected, came
out swinging.
“We took it as a challenge and we
were not going to give up!” thunders
Pun. He set out to revolutionise the
remittance system, using satellite
communications so that he could give
his customers the option to remit
money to even the remotest areas.
He shortened the waiting period for
remitted money to reach the intended
receiver to an amazing 10 minutes.
He motivated his branch managers
to be customer focused and treat
it as a fight for survival. They did
not let him down. With the largest
branch network in the country then
and the unrivalled zeal to survive
on just remittance fees, Yoma Bank
captured the bulk of the domestic
remittance market. “The volume of
the remittance business that we were
doing amazed even myself.”
Looking back, Pun reckons the
strange decision by the powers to
let him keep his banking licence but
disallowing him to do any banking
business, was a calculated move to
make him bleed enough so that he
would surrender. “They disallowed
us to take deposits or make loans
but insisted that every of our 41
branches remain open without
any layoffs.” Pun recalls. Pun’s
admission of defeat would have been
a Pyrrhic victory for the generals,
but a victory nonetheless. Pun would
have none of that.
Finally, in 2012, under the new
government, Pun’s banking licence
was fully reinstated.
Shortly thereafter, allegations of
Pun’s links to the regime surfaced,
mainly because Yoma Bank was
conspicuously missing from the
list of top 100 corporate taxpayers
issued by the country’s taxation
department, while other smaller
banks were included.
Balloons over Bogan, a luxury
tourism business of Yoma
Strategic Holdings
8
Family & Life • Aug 2014
“How do you expect Yoma Bank to
be on the top taxpayers’ list in 2013
when our full banking licence was
only reinstated in November 2012?
We were simply not able to comp