Bank Central Asia helps salvage ailing Bank Yama
JAKARTA (JP): Bank Central Asia (BCA), Indonesia's largest private bank, is involved in rescuing ailing Bank Yama, BCA president Abdullah Ali confirmed here yesterday.
Abdullah said BCA had approval from Bank Indonesia, the central bank, to give management assistance to Bank Yama.
"We are giving management and other assistance to Bank Yama to restore it to a sound condition," Abdullah said after launching a Visa-BCA Automated Teller Machine network here yesterday.
Abdullah refused to say what other forms of assistance but did not rule out financial aid.
Bank Yama, currently controlled by President Soeharto's daughter Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana, ran into trouble a few years ago when most of its credit turned sour.
Bank Yama had management assistance from state Bank BNI until last year. It was even rumored that BNI's employees' pension fund would buy a significant stake in Bank Yama.
It is not clear why BCA has replaced BNI in giving management assistance to Bank Yama. But Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana is one of BCA's main shareholders.
BCA, now the largest commercial bank in Indonesia, is a banking unit of the giant Salim Group.
Abdullah said BCA assisted Bank Yama as part of its business strategy. But he refused to comment on speculations that BCA would buy Bank Yama.
Bank Yama is one of several problem banks in the country.
The central bank is currently supervising negotiations between shareholders of another ailing bank, Bank Pacific, and a consortium of the Bakrie Group, Pentasena and ALatiF Corp, on the possible takeover of the problem bank.
Bangun S. Kusmulyono, president of Bank Nusa International, a unit of the Bakrie Group, said the negotiations were tough and still underway.
National car
Abdullah yesterday also said press reports were wrong when they said his bank was part of a consortium of three state banks and 10 private large banks to finance the development of the national car, Timor.
"We have not been asked to sign any contract or agreement to finance the national car. And I don't know what the developments are now," Abdullah said.
Hutomo Mandala Putra, president of PT Timor Putra Nasional -- the national car's producer -- said Thursday that BCA was one of the consortium which would provide some US$690 million in a syndicated loan to the company to develop the car.
The other local private banks that Hutomo said were members of the consortium, headed by state-owned Bank Dagang Negara, were Bank Danamon, Bank Niaga, BDNI and Bank Umum Nasional. (rid)