IBRA should get tough with errant debtors, legislators say<\/p>\n
Dadan Wijaksana, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) should get tough
\nagainst former bank owners deemed to be uncooperative in repaying
\nthe huge debts they owe to the government, senior legislators
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
They said the agency should no longer cave in to \"time buying\"
\ntactics of the recalcitrant debtors.<\/p>\n
\"IBRA must be tough with them (debtors),\" Paskah Suzetta,
\ndeputy chairman of the House of Representatives' budget committee
\nsaid over the weekend.<\/p>\n
He was responding to a request last week from the former bank
\nowners for another two weeks before they signed repayment
\nagreements with the agency.<\/p>\n
The debtors argued that the extra time was needed to verify
\nthe real amount of their debts. Reports had earlier said that the
\nbankers had protested the figures produced by IBRA as being too
\nhigh.<\/p>\n
Some 15 former bank owners were summoned by IBRA on Friday to
\nask demand the repayment of their debts within three months or
\nwould risk legal sanctions, including jail terms and asset
\nsequestration.<\/p>\n
The 15 debtors are among 35 ex-bank owners who owe the
\ngovernment a staggering US$10 billion in debts.<\/p>\n
The government injected emergency liquidity support funds into
\nthe banks during the banking crisis of the late 1990s. But there
\nhave been accusations that the bankers, who include the family
\nand friends of former authoritarian president Soeharto, misused
\nthe loans for, among other things, currency speculation and
\npropping up affiliated companies. Most of the banks in question
\nhave since been closed down.<\/p>\n
The bankers signed agreements with the government in 1998 to
\nrepay the debts, but after four years most of them have come to
\nbe seen as uncooperative in making their repayments.<\/p>\n
The repayment schemes agreed upon in 1998 were divided into
\nthree types: Master of Acquisition and Settlement Agreements
\n(MSAA), Master of Refinancing and Notes Issuance Agreements
\n(MRNIA) and Deeds of Indebtedness (APU).<\/p>\n
The 15 debtors were among the 26 bankers who signed up to the
\nAPU scheme. Nine bankers had previously been summoned by IBRA and
\nhad also requested extra time to make verification.<\/p>\n
But Paskah said they were merely seeking to buy time.<\/p>\n
\"The value of the debts were all been agreed upon as between
\nthe debtors and the government when they signed the debt
\nsettlement agreements, including the MSAAs, MRNIAs and APUs,\"
\nPaskah said.<\/p>\n
Under strong public pressure, the government set up a special
\nteam of legal counsel in March to decide which debtors had been
\nuncooperative in repaying their debts.<\/p>\n
They categorized the 15 debtors, plus the previous nine
\nbankers, as uncooperative, and recommended IBRA take legal action
\nif they failed to repay their debts within three months from the
\ndate of being informed by the agency about their latest debt
\nstatus.<\/p>\n
Another lawmaker from the budget commission, Faisal Baasir,
\nwas also of the opinion that there was no need for IBRA to give
\nextra time for further verification.<\/p>\n
The legal counsel team is expected to finalize all its review
\non the debtors who signed MSAAs and MRNIAs sometime this month.<\/p>\n
Of the total, the largest debtors in terms of value are bound
\nby MSAAs, with the total debts involved reaching some $8 billion,
\nincluding the debts owed by the Salim Group, the former owner of
\nBank Central Asia (BCA); Sjamsul Nursalim (Bank BDNI); Bob Hasan
\n(Bank Umum Nasional) and Sudwidkatmono (Bank Subentra). The last
\nthree banks have been shut down.<\/p>\n
Their banks were among the largest recipients of the Bank
\nIndonesia emergency liquidity loans with some Rp 144.5 trillion
\n(about $14.2 billion) coming their way at the peak of the 1998
\nfinancial crisis.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/ibra-should-get-tough-with-errant-debtors-legislators-say-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}