Pubdate: Fri, 21 Nov 2003 Source: Associated Press (Wire) Copyright: 2003 Associated Press Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/money+laundering MYANMAR DENOUNCES US TSY DEPT ACTION VS BANKING SECTOR BANGKOK (AP)--Myanmar's military government Friday denounced U.S. government sanctions against its banking industry, saying any financial sector problems were partly the fault of developed nations that failed to provide aid. The U.S. Treasury Department Wednesday designated Myanmar and two of its private commercial banks as being of "primary money-laundering concern," and announced plans to prohibit U.S. financial institutions from doing business with the two. The action against the two banks represented the first time the U.S. Treasury Department used a section of the USA Patriot Act against specific foreign financial institutions, it said. Instead of sharing wealth and experience, developed nations "are heavily hampering the countries of peaceful evolution, like Myanmar, by their constantly negative attitude, irresponsible actions and unrealistic expectations," Myanmar's government said in a statement. The U.S. has long been a leading critic of Myanmar's military regime for its poor human rights record, and its failure to hand over power to a democratically elected government. It bans aid to the government and strictly limits trade with the country. "The U.S. government has been criticizing and condemning almost every institution in existence in Myanmar, and now is the time and the turn for Myanmar financial institutions to be accused of wrong doing," the statement said. The Treasury Department said its action against Myanmar, also known as Burma, "is the result of its failure to remedy serious deficiencies in its anti-money laundering system." It also announced plans to impose a ban on U.S. financial institutions having correspondent accounts with all Myanmar banks, allowing exemptions in certain cases. However, no exemptions would be allowed for two banks - the Myanmar Mayflower Bank and the Asia Wealth Bank - accused of being tied to narcotics traffickers. The USA Patriot Act was previously employed against two countries, the Ukraine and Nauru, but not against specific financial institutions, the Treasury Department said. The wide-ranging Patriot Act was passed to fight terrorism after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the U.S. The two Myanmar banks are not accused of having ties to terrorists. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake