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Article

2 Nov 2008

Author:
Nick Mathiason, Observer [UK]

The baron who holds Burma's purse strings

Baron Levene...[is chairman of] Lloyd's of London...Levene has long faced criticism at Lloyd's for failing to rebuke those of its syndicates that share the reinsurance risk on key aviation and shipping interests owned by the [Burmese] junta...But Levene is also a director at Total, the French energy giant that has signed agreements with Burma to extract gas and oil there...Levene's two roles means he is a leading force within the two most important Western firms doing business in Burma; this despite calls from the pro-democracy movement for all foreign businesses to cease trading with the regime...Levene said he was not considering resigning from Total...[H]e rejected the argument that revenues from oil and gas, as well as Lloyd's reinsurance of key infrastructure owned by the Burmese junta, help it retain power. 'There is no evidence to support this,' he said.