Barclays Must Disclose Business Dealings With Burma

17 Aug 2010

Burma Campaign UK today called on Barclays to disclose in full all financial payments made involving Burma.

Barclays Bank has agreed to pay a $298m (£190m) fine for breaking US sanctions against several dictatorships. The bank had been charged with breaking the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and the Trading with the Enemy Act between 1995 and 2006. The countries involved were Burma, Cuba, Iran, Libya, and Sudan.

“Barclays must come clean and reveal which banks in Burma it was doing business with, where the money came from, and where it went to,” said Mark Farmaner, Director of Burma Campaign UK. “This is a very serious issue. Barclays have a lot of questions to answer. Burma’s generals, and their business cronies, are looting the country of wealth, hiding it in foreign bank accounts. Have Barclays helped them do this? We also need to know how the money was used. Were these financial transfers used for buying arms? Have Barclays helped arm a dictatorship which uses rape, torture and slave labour, and stands accused of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity?”

Burma Campaign UK is also concerned that the US government is not properly monitoring and implementing sanctions.

“Some people are arguing that we should be taking a softer line with Burma’s generals because sanctions have been tried and have failed,” said Mark Farmaner. “The truth is there are very few effective sanctions against the dictatorship in Burma, and now we find that even those few are not properly implemented.”

Burma Campaign UK is also writing to the British government asking them to investigate whether Barclays is in breach of Europe Union sanctions on Burma. The European Union has some limited financial sanctions, but none which are as strong as those imposed by the USA.