"UK: Investigate Rio Tinto's role in potential Burma sanctions busting", 16 Apr 2015

The UK Government must investigate...Rio Tinto over a possible breach of EU economic sanctions on Burma, Amnesty International said...Rio Tinto was instrumental in the setting up of the secretive Monywa Trust which enabled...Ivanhoe Mines (now Turquoise Hill Resources) to divest its stake in the controversial Monywa copper mine project in central Burma, where abuses have included forced evictions and extreme pollution.  Rio Tinto has been a major shareholder of Ivanhoe since 2006...The Trust was established in 2007 as a condition for Rio Tinto’s investment in Ivanhoe. Information obtained by Amnesty International suggests that the Trust’s subsequent sale of Ivanhoe’s stake could have involved a breach of economic sanctions on Myanmar, by making assets available to the military-owned conglomerate the Union of Myanmar Economic Holding (UMEHL) and Tay Za, a ‘broker’ for the Myanmar government...Rio Tinto states that “it was, and remains, our understanding that the measures required by Rio Tinto and put in place by Ivanhoe on the disposal of the Myanmar asset were fully compliant with all applicable laws giving effect to sanctions”.