Myanma Economic Holdings Limited  Myanma Economic Holdings Public Company Limited (, abbreviated MEHL) is one of two major conglomerates run by the Burmese military (through the Ministry of Defence), the other being the Myanmar Economic Corporation (MEC). MEHL is owned by the Burmese military, and is influenced by senior Tatmadaw leaders. Revenues generated from MEHL have strengthened the Burmese military's autonomy from civilian oversight, and has contributed to the military's financial operations in "a wide array of international human rights and humanitarian law violations." UMEHL also operates Myawaddy Bank and the Burmese military's pension fund. The headquarters are located on Maha Bandula Road in Yangon's Botataung Township. The Union of Myanmar Economic Holdings Limited (abbreviated UMEHL or UMEH) was established in February 1990 under the Special Companies Act as the economic arm of the Burmese military, during a period of privatisation and transition from a socialist command economy, with an initial capital of US$1.6 billion. UMEHL was established to generate profits from light industry and the trade of commercial goods. In the 2000s, several state-owned enterprises, including sugar factories, were transferred to the control of MEHL and MEC. By 2007, MEHL wholly owned seventy-seven firms, nine subsidiaries and seven affiliated companies. Its shares are available to military units, active duty and retired military and veterans' groups, returning a 30% profit since 1995. The MEHL conglomerate is jointly owned by two military departments; 40% of shares are owned by the Directorate of Defence Procurement while 60% of shares are owned by active and veteran defence personnel, including high-ranking military officials of the former ruling military junta, the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) and veterans organisations. MEHL is exempt from commercial and profit taxes. In 2010, MEHL opened Ruby Mart, a 5-storey shopping complex in Yangon's Kyauktada Township, in a building that once housed the Ministry of Commerce's Myanmar Agricultural Produce Trading. Between 2009 and 2012, MEHL benefited immensely during a mass privatization of state-owned enterprises and assets, acquiring the Bo Aung Kyaw port terminal and the Myanma Five Star Line in the process. In May 2012, when the United States suspended sanctions against Burma (Myanmar), sanctions against MEHL were kept in place, because of its affiliation to the Burmese Tatmadaw.