The Union Financial Center in downtown Yangon, Myanmar, is now rivalling the city's Sakura Tower (where rents soar at Manhattan levels) as the place to be for banks. The newly built office block – which offers an impressive view of the derelict colonial era British Secretariat across the street – is home to regional banking giants such as ANZ and OCBC, local banks Myawaddy Bank and CB Bank, and a host of representative banks.
One of these representative offices belongs to Krungsri, a Thai bank that was bought out by Japan’s Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ (BTMU) and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) in late 2013. With its parent also located in Yangon, some may wonder why Krungsri Bank needs a representative office. However, there is a strategy at work here.
