Aussie bank says it remains committed to RI

Aussie bank says it remains committed to RI

JAKARTA (JP): The Commonwealth Bank of Australia remains
committed to Indonesia despite its recent decision to let go of
its shares in a local insurance firm, a company senior executive
said on Monday.

President of PT Bank Commonwealth, the bank's Indonesian unit,
Llew Morris said the company's plan to sell its 50 percent shares
in Astra CMG Life did not mean the company wanted to quit
Indonesia but it was only a move to focus on banking business.

Commonwealth earlier announced that it would divest its shares
in insurance firms in Thailand and Indonesia.

"We are actually expanding (our banking business). Soon we
will open a new branch in Kelapa Gading, and introduce new
products like this ATM Bersama cooperation," Morris said after a
ceremony to mark the cooperation between the bank and local
automated teller machine (ATM) network provider PT Aplikanusa
Lintasarta.

Lintasarta has an ATM network, called ATM Bersama, comprising
more than 650 ATMs across 50 cities in Indonesia which could be
used by customers of 22 local and foreign banks to withdraw cash
or check savings balance.

As a result of its agreement with Lintasarta, Commonwealth's
customers could use Lintasarta's ATM Bersama.

Morris said that although the company was small compared to
other banks in Indonesia, it already had a good market niche in
the country and was targeting "high net worth" individuals
especially those with some connection with Australia.

"We are targeting people who have children studying in
Australia, those with businesses in Australia, etc.," he said.

Regarding the bank's plan to divest its shares in Astra CMG
Life, Morris asserted that the plan was not because the insurance
firm was not profitable but it was part of the bank's strategic
review of its business in Asia.

He said the bank's control of 50 percent shares in Astra CMG
Life came through the purchase of Colonial Ltd. in June last year
worth A$9.4 billion.

Aside from Astra CMG Life, the bank also took control of CMG
funds management and life insurance assets in Hong Kong,
Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines, and China.

"We can't say (we are divesting) because Astra CMG is losing
money, it's not. But the bank has to make a decision on where to
invest its money," Morris said.

He said that talks were still ongoing on the planned
divestment, and that more than one investor had expressed
interest in buying Commonwealth's stake in Astra CMG Life.

"(At this moment) it's possible that the divestment may not
even happen," Morris added.

Bank Commonwealth began operating in Indonesia in 1997
originally as a joint venture partner of PT Bank International
Indonesia (BII). As of July 2000, the bank is no longer owned by
BII but is 99 percent owned by the Commonwealth Bank of
Australia. (tnt)