Innwa Bank was founded by the Myanmar Economic Corporation (MEC) in 1997, a major conglomerate owned by serving and retired military officers of the Tatmadaw, affiliated with the Myanmar Ministry of Defence.
[1][2] The bank serves as a financial vehicle for MEC's subsidiaries and affiliates.
[3] In November 2022, Distributed Denial of Secrets published leaked documents from Innwa Bank.
The leaks showed that major international banks, including ANZ, continued to do business with Myanmar's military after the coup.
The leak resulted in increased scrutiny of major banks.