Ex-bank owners declared debt free<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Four ex-bank owners will soon be declared free of debt by the
\ngovernment after the powerful Financial Sector Policy Committee
\n(FSPC) decided late on Wednesday that they had fully repaid their
\ndebts to the state.<\/p>\n
FSPC secretary Lukito D. Tuwo told reporters that the former
\nowners of the now defunct banks included The The Min (Bank
\nHastin), Husodo A. (Bank Sewu), The Nin Kong (Bank Baja), and
\nNirwan D. Bakrie (Bank Nusa Nasional).<\/p>\n
Lukito was speaking after a meeting of FSPC, which groups
\nsenior economics ministers.<\/p>\n
The Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) is expected to
\nimmediately grant them debt-free status following the green light
\nfrom FSPC. IBRA was officially closed down late last month, but
\na skeleton staff is still helping to finalize some cases and will
\ndo so until the end of April.<\/p>\n
The status will also free the ex-bank owners from any legal
\naction for possible banking crimes committed in the past.<\/p>\n
To date, IBRA has given debt free status to nine ex-bank
\nowners, including Anthony Salim, the former owner of Bank BCA and
\nthe largest debtor, who received the status last week.<\/p>\n
The government injected Rp 144.5 trillion (currently
\nequivalent to some US$17 billion) in emergency liquidity funds to
\nmany banks to bail them out in the wake of the late 1990s
\nfinancial crisis. But some 35 bank owners have been charged with
\nviolating banking regulations, mainly by channeling their
\ndepositor's money to affiliated business groups, a crime that led
\nto the collapse of the banks and forced the government to bail
\nthem out, as well as later misusing the emergency liquidity
\nfunds.<\/p>\n
To repay their debts, the bank owners surrendered a
\ncombination of cash and assets to IBRA. But it has taken the
\nagency several years to verify and calculate the value of those
\nassets, many of which turned out to have much less market value
\nthan earlier claimed. The agency, for instance, collected around
\nRp 20 trillion from the sale of shares in 108 companies
\nsurrendered by Salim to pay off his Rp 52.7 trillion debt to the
\nstate.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Lukito said FSPC had not recommended that the
\nformer owner of now defunct Bank BDNI Sjamsul Nursalim be
\ndeclared debt-free, despite IBRA's report that the businessman
\nhas settled his obligation. Lukito said that there were still
\nlegal hold-ups in Sjamsul's case.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/ex-bank-owners-declared-debt-free-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}