Bank Industri under BRI control

Bank Industri under BRI control

JAKARTA (JP): State-owned Bank Rakyat Indonesia has been
assigned caretaker manager of Bank Industri, a private bank
controlled by Hashim S. Djoyohadikusumo.

Bank Industri's president, M. Djumeri, said that the
assignment of BRI as caretaker had been approved during the
bank's annual shareholders' meeting late last month.

"The involvement of BRI in Bank Industri's management has
gained support from Bank Indonesia (the central bank)," he said
in a statement on Monday.

While Djumeri did not say why BRI had been appointed
caretaker, reliable sources say that Bank Industri, which in
March last year announced a plan to merge with Bank Nusa, is in
financial difficulties.

The tie-up with the state-owned bank changed the composition
of the management of Bank Industri, with most of the positions in
both executive and supervisory boards taken over by active
executives of BRI.

The new executive board includes Djumeri as president, Putu
Windu Hanaya as director for credit and Ey Sarwono Sudarto as
director of the treasury and operations. The supervisory board
includes Hashim as chief commissioner, and Oemarjoedi and Roes
Haryanto as commissioners.

Sources say at least 30 small and medium-sized Indonesian
banks are performing poorly and that the government has
recommended that they merge with larger banks in order to avoid
bankruptcy.

The government recently amended the tax laws to facilitate
mergers between banks, abolishing the tax on the transfer of
assets for the purpose of a merger. However, as yet the banks
have not responded to the government's proddings.

Bank Dewa Rutji, also said to be facing financial
difficulties, recently sold part of its shares to Bank Dagang
Nasional Indonesia (BDNI), a publicly-listed commercial bank.

BDNI is reported to have injected Rp 75 billion (US$34
million) into Bank Dewa Rutji to support its operations.(hen)