# Myanma Economic Holdings The Myanmar officer corps' collective investment vehicle, and the largest single holder of jade and gems licences in the country. ## The structure — a closed military shareholder model Not, as sometimes described, a diffuse civilian shareholding. The UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar found that **"all shares in MEHL are held and managed by current or former military officers."** In 2016 the company converted all its shares into a single class held by military personnel, ex-servicemen, regiments and units, and veterans' organisations. Amnesty International put the base at roughly **383,439 shareholders — 381,636 serving and retired military personnel plus 1,803 institutional shareholders**: regional commands, divisions, battalions, veterans' associations and Border Guard Force battalions, collectively holding about a third of the shares. Governance runs to the top: **the Commander-in-Chief is Chairman**, the Deputy Commander-in-Chief Vice-Chairman. Shares have been priced at 1,000 kyat since founding; dividends of around 30% were paid annually each September from 1995, with rank-and-file salary deductions directed into shares. > [!warning] The dollar figures in circulation are wrong > Amnesty reports total dividends of roughly **107.87 billion kyat** between 1990 and 2011, of which about 95 billion went to military units. Conversions of ~$16–18 billion derive from Myanmar's **official** exchange rate of about 6 kyat to the dollar, wildly overvalued against a market rate that ran between 800 and 1,300 over the period. At market rates the same sums are on the order of **$100–150 million**. **State the kyat figure.** ## The minerals position MEHL holds **31 companies in mining and gems**, including jade extraction subsidiaries in Kachin State and ruby and sapphire operations in Shan State — effectively a monopoly position in gems. It was the single largest jade and gemstone licence-holder during the licensing suspension, and it is **exempt from commercial and profit taxes**. See [[Hpakant]]. ## Sanctions | Jurisdiction | Date | |---|---| | **Canada** | 13 December 2007 — and retained when Canada lifted comprehensive sanctions in 2012 | | **United States** | 25 March 2021, OFAC under Executive Order 14014 | | **United Kingdom** | 25 March 2021, for involvement in serious human rights violations against the Rohingya | | **European Union** | 19 April 2021 | Canada was first by fourteen years. The 2021 designations were possible within weeks of the coup because Amnesty's *Military Ltd* report of September 2020 and Justice For Myanmar's leaked shareholder registries had already built the evidentiary base. ## See also [[Myanmar Economic Corporation]] · [[Myanmar Conflict Minerals]] · [[Hpakant]] · [[Conflict Resources Atlas]]