Comment on American Investments in Burma : My forty year investment experience includes working as an Assistant to the CEO of the then richest family in America, Assistant to the Chairman of a London trading company owned by Saudi Military Intelligence Chief, served on the Board of Directors of a Dallas based oil company together with Herb Kelleher, founder of Southwest Airlines, and was given power of attorney by a Dallas billionaire to purchase $500 million worth of Lockheed stock. Given that I am the most experienced Burmese-American investment manager, several potential investors have asked me why I have not formed a partnership to make investments in Burma. The reasons are quite simple. First, it is almost impossible to comply with the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) in Burma. ASSK recently stated that there is corruption at every street corner. I would add by saying there is corruption at every investment related government department or ministry in Burma. The World Bank publication Doing Business 2014 ranks Burma #182 out of 189 countries. It is more corrupt than Zimbabwe, Africas basket case, which is ranked #170. Burma Government fails to fully & completely understand that FCPA is strictly enforced, the fines are huge and the jail time is real for CEOs of American companies if violations of FCPA are uncovered. The company can be fined up to $20 million, and an individual can be fined up to $5.0 million and spend up to 20 years in jail for each violation. The second reason for not investing in Burma is lack of rule of law. There have been cases of cronies hijacking and confiscating a company if an investment is successful. The third reason is free & fair elections in 2015. American economic sanctions are suspended, not removed. Early this week, a very angry ASSK reminded foreign investors not to forget 2015 elections. __________
Posted on: Sat, 16 Nov 2013 12:54:09 +0000
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