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)