Twenty-percent share ownership<\/p>\n
Minister of Cooperatives and Small Enterprises Subiakto
\nTjakrawerdaya has quoted President Soeharto's appeal to limit the
\npurchase of shares of companies which have gone public to 15
\npercent, in order to prevent someone or a certain group from
\nbecoming a majority shareholder.<\/p>\n
However, PT Nusamba, led by Bob Hasan and whose shares are
\npredominantly owned by the Super Semar Foundation, now owns about
\n22.5 percent of PT Astra International shares. This is not in
\nviolation of the prevailing capital market regulations, i.e. the
\nCapital Market Law, which state that the purchase of a company's
\nshares equaling or exceeding 20 percent is allowed, provided it
\nis done in a transparent way: that it is registered officially at
\nthe stock exchange. This method is called the \"tender over\". What
\nis prohibited is the covert purchase of shares, or what is
\nreferred to as \"insider trading\", which may cause losses to
\npublic shareholders.<\/p>\n
The law is also clear on the matter regarding the authority of
\nthe Capital Market Supervisory Agency, which sends a warning if
\nthere is a share purchase which is viewed as insider trading.<\/p>\n
The Indonesian capital market has existed for eight years. The
\nstock exchange still needs to win the community's confidence.
\nThere should not be an impression that capital market regulations
\ncan be changed arbitrarily, according to the wishes of state
\nofficials.<\/p>\n
It would be a good thing if the finance minister, in his
\ncapacity as the authorized and responsible state official on the
\nrunning of the capital market in Indonesia, clarified the matter.
\nHe should not keep mum. He should not take an attitude of
\n\"silence is golden\".<\/p>\n
Of late, there has been a tendency on the part of the
\ngovernment to ignore the laws in the financial field. One example
\nis Presidential Instruction No. 6 of 1996, which gives tax
\nexemption to PT Timor Putra Nasional. The tax laws in force
\nclearly do not recognize the granting of tax exemption
\nfacilities, both subjective and objective. The granting of tax
\nfacilities to PT Timor Putra Nasional only is discriminatory. In
\nimplementing tax laws as public law, discriminatory steps are
\nprohibited. Although the granting of the facility is formulated
\nas tax debt borne by the state, it means that the government has
\ngiven tax subsidies to PT Timor Putra Nasional. Tax subsidies
\nhave to be mentioned and accounted for in the State Budget and
\napproval for them obtained from the House of Representatives (see
\nArticle 23 of the 1945 Constitution). The finance minister needs
\nto explain the matter. The House should also give attention to
\nit, particularly the commissions for state budget and finance.
\nThe Supreme Audit Agency should also have a say in it. Another
\nmatter is the issuance of a Presidential Decision which grants
\nincome tax exemption to PT PAL (a state-owned company) in
\nSurabaya.<\/p>\n
If the government has provided examples of discriminatory
\nsteps in implementing the tax laws, perhaps it may lead to the
\nunwillingness of many taxpayers to adhere to the prevailing tax
\nlaws.<\/p>\n
SUHARSONO HADIKUSUMO<\/p>\n
Jakarta<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/twenty-percent-share-ownership-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }