Bank BCA appoints new independent commissioners<\/p>\n
M. Taufiqurrahman, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Shareholders of Bank Central Asia (BCA) have appointed three
\nnew independent commissioners in a move some said reflected the
\npinnacle of an internal dispute between the outgoing independent
\ncommissioners and key shareholder FarIndo Investment.<\/p>\n
The shareholders agreed during their annual meeting on
\nWednesday to appoint Cyrillus Harinowo, a former candidate for
\nthe governorship of Bank Indonesia, Renaldo Hector Barros, a
\nformer employee of Citybank, and Tony Kusnadi, a BCA employee, as
\nindependent commissioners for the largest private bank in the
\ncountry.<\/p>\n
They replaced outgoing independent commissioners Winarto and
\nSuyono Sadirun, who both resigned recently, and Edwin Gerungan,
\nwho was dismissed hours before the shareholders meeting.<\/p>\n
Analysts said the dismissal of the three independent
\ncommissioners was due to their firm stand against the domination
\nof the Hartono brothers -- Bambang and Budi of cigarette maker
\nDjarum group -- in the decision-making process in the bank.<\/p>\n
Through Alaerka Investment, the Hartono brothers secured a 10
\npercent stake in FarIndo Investment.<\/p>\n
As reported by the Koran Tempo daily, Djarum group was
\nsuspected of being behind a tussle between BCA directors and
\ncommissioners over the bank's efforts to salvage Bank Multicor.<\/p>\n
The public has long been curious about who is actually behind
\nthe wheel in BCA, the Mauritius-based investment vehicle Farallon
\nGroup, which owns a 90 percent stake in FarIndo, or the Djarum
\nGroup.<\/p>\n
State Minister\/Head of the National Development Planning
\nBoard Kwik Kian Gie recently voiced his disgust, saying he knew
\nfrom the very beginning that the Djarum owners were in fact
\nbehind Farallon.<\/p>\n
The news media have also reported that the management of BCA
\nhas many times been summoned by the Djarum owners to explain
\nvarious policies it had taken.<\/p>\n
Last year, after going through a public sale, the Indonesian
\nBank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) sold 52.24 percent of BCA shares
\nto FarIndo Investment.<\/p>\n
As the bank with the largest number of customers in Indonesia,
\nBCA was the first priority for the government for the injection
\nof trillions of rupiah in recapitalization funds to help cope
\nwith mass bank runs during the height of the 1997-1998 financial
\ncrisis.<\/p>\n
BCA president D.E. Setijoso, however, denied that the
\nreshuffle of the board of commissioners had anything to do with
\ninterference from the owners of Djarum.<\/p>\n
\"Farallon assigns only those who are professional for
\npositions both on the board of commissioners and board of
\ndirectors,\" he told reporters during a press briefing after the
\nshareholders meeting.<\/p>\n
Setijoso also said that the annual meeting had decided to pay
\na dividend of Rp 225 per share to shareholders.<\/p>\n
BCA has earmarked about Rp 1.3 trillion of its net profit for
\nthe dividend payment. This accounts for 53.7 percent of the
\nbank's net profit in 2002.<\/p>\n
With total assets of Rp 117 trillion, BCA is the largest
\nprivate bank in the country.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/bank-bca-appoints-new-independent-commissioners-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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