Agus Martowardojo appointed to lead Bank Mandiri<\/p>\n
Rendi A. Witular and Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The shareholders of troubled state-owned Bank Mandiri decided on
\nMonday to appoint Agus Martowardojo as the new president of the
\nbank and dismiss four of the nine directors of the country's
\nlargest bank in asset terms.<\/p>\n
Agus is the current president of publicly listed Bank Permata,
\nthe country's seventh-largest bank in terms of assets, which is
\nowned by a consortium made up of Britain's Standard Chartered
\nPlc. and local automotive firm PT Astra International.<\/p>\n
The 49-year-old banker was reported to have strong backing
\nfrom President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. The government controls
\n70 percent of Bank Mandiri, with the remaining shares being held
\nby retail investors.<\/p>\n
Agus' appointment, however, is somewhat controversial as he
\nwas among the Bank Mandiri former executives who were recently
\nquestioned by the Attorney General's Office (AGO) over an alleged
\nmassive lending scam worth more than Rp 12 trillion (US$1.26
\nbillion).<\/p>\n
The AGO questioned Agus over his role in extending problematic
\nloans when he still served as Bank Mandiri managing director for
\nrisk management and credit restructuring between 1999 and 2000.<\/p>\n
The bank's four directors -- president director E.C.W. Neloe,
\nvice president director I Wayan Pugeg, corporate banking director
\nM. Sholeh Tasripan and commercial banking director Ventje
\nRahardjo -- were dismissed by the annual shareholders meeting.<\/p>\n
The AGO is currently investigating the scandal with Neloe,
\nPugeg and Tasripan having already been declared suspects by
\nprosecutors.<\/p>\n
Neloe attended the shareholders meeting after obtaining the
\nconsent of the AGO to take a break from questioning. His lawyer,
\nM. Assegaf, said the prosecutors were questioning him about his
\ncareer history.<\/p>\n
Head of the AGO investigators Arnold Angkouw said the
\nquestioning would continue on Tuesday, starting at 9 a.m.<\/p>\n
\"Neloe looked calm while responding to the 41 questions. But
\nnot all the shareholders were satisfied with his explanations,\"
\nsaid Mahmuddin Yasin, a deputy to the state minister for state
\nenterprises.<\/p>\n
He said, however, that the shareholders had no option but to
\napprove the accountability statements of the board of directors
\nand the 2004 financial accounts as the bank's independent auditor
\nhad given an unqualified opinion on these.<\/p>\n
During the meeting, shareholders also agreed to promote the
\nbank's director for risk management I Wayan Agus Mertayasa to
\nvice president director and group head for multi-industry Abdul
\nRahman as director for corporate banking.<\/p>\n
Four directors will remain in this current posts -- Omar
\nSjawaldy Anwar as consumer banking director, Nimrod Sitorus as
\ncorporate secretary, JB Kendarto as treasury and international
\ndirector and Zulkifli Zaini as distribution network director.<\/p>\n
The shareholders also appointed Edwin Gerungan, former
\nchairman of the now-defunct Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency,
\nto replace Binhadi as chief commissioner of Bank Mandiri.<\/p>\n
Other newly appointed members of the board of commissioners
\ninclude Muhayat, Soedarjono, Richard Claproth, Pradjoto, Gunarni
\nSoeworo and Yap Tjay Soen.<\/p>\n
The shareholders also approved a plan to allocate 50 percent
\nof the bank's 2004 net profit for a dividend payment worth some
\nRp 2.62 trillion.<\/p>\n
Earlier in the day, Vice President Jusuf Kalla said the
\ngovernment had decided to choose Agus because of his age and
\nexpertise, primarily in \"fixing\" banks with problems, such as
\nBank Mandiri.<\/p>\n
\"Bank Mandiri is the biggest bank. In terms of the national
\ninterest, the bank has to serve in the vanguard as regards
\ndeveloping our economy,\" he said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/agus-martowardojo-appointed-to-lead-bank-mandiri-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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