"... Burma is currently undergoing one of its periodic monetary and financial crises. Unusually, however, this time the crisis is not a characteristic de-monetisation episode, but a failure of confidence in the country's nascent private banking sector. In this sense the current crisis is probably less immediately destructive of the 'wealth' of ordinary Burmese than previous dramas (as shall be examined below), but its longer-term damage to Burma's economy and to key institutions is likely to be severe indeed. Trust is the foundation of banking and the key ingredient of a country's social capital. There must be little of this (already scarce) commodity in Burma today. The following is an attempt to make sense of some of the developments that have been taking place in Burma's banking sector in recent weeks. It suffers from the usual information difficulties that come with attempting real-time commentary on the opaque world of Burma's political economy. It is hoped, nevertheless, that it might prove useful in at least shining a dim light into some very dark corners. It is not a comprehensive account of individual events either, but it arguably provides a sufficient outline upon which to begin a process of analysis. Extensive use is made throughout of a more detailed examination of the structure of Burma's banking system contained in Turnell (2002). We have made wide-spread use of many other sources, where possible indicated below. Finally, comments and suggestions would be greatly welcomed.