Campaigners triumph as QBE pulls out of Burmese market

QBE has pulled out of Burma following sustained lobbying from an organisation opposed to the country’s military regime.

The insurance group has said it has cancelled its limited exposure to the Burmese government and companies operating in the south-east Asian country.

In a statement to lobby group the Burma Campaign, Frank O’Halloran, QBE’s chief executive, said: “QBE has reviewed its various portfolios around the world and has cancelled the few incidental Burmese exposures on multinational insurance policies that could have direct or indirect benefit for the current ruling party in Burma.”

He added: “QBE does not provide insurance for any business owned in Burma.”

Johnny Chatterton, campaigns officer for Burma Campaign, said: “Foreign insurers provide a financial lifeline to Burma’s brutal regime. They insure the projects that make the regime billions of dollars a year.”