Bank of New York enters Jakarta
Bank of New York enters Jakarta
JAKARTA (JP): The Bank of New York, America's oldest bank, has
opened a representative office here to improve services to its
Indonesian clients.
"We have been providing services to Indonesian clients for 40
years. The decision to open a representative office in Jakarta is
for the convenience of our clients in Indonesia," the bank's vice
chairman, Samuel F. Chevalier, said here yesterday.
He said that the bank would be able to offer customers a full
range of international banking and securities processing
services, including trade letters, export bills collection,
commercial and treasury payments and American and Global
Depository Receipts.
Asked about Indonesia's inflation and interest rates, he said:
"The inflation in Indonesia has no great impact directly on our
business, because we centrally participate in dollar
transactions, not with rupiah. The interest rate, meanwhile, is
important to the local economy and to our clients here," he said.
"Our principal goal is to participate in the financial
business whatever the condition of the country is. We hope to
bring our success to Indonesia," he said.
The bank's chief representative in Jakarta, Daniel T.S. Chia,
said that the Bank of New York will deal with three major
businesses in Indonesia.
"The first area is to promote corresponding bankings with
local financial institutions. Secondly, we promote trade finance,
in which banks may access trade facilities, so we are partners to
them. Thirdly we do securities. We are the custodian for PT
Telkom which will list on the New York Stock Exchange. We did the
same for PT Indosat, PT Tri Polyta Indonesia," he said.
Telkom is the state-owned domestic telecommunications operator
which plans to float its shares in New York next month, while Tri
Polyta is a polypropylene resins manufacturer listed on NASDAQ.
The Bank of New York, established in 1784, is one of the
largest bank holding companies in the United States, with total
assets of US$54 billion as of June 30 this year.
The company provides a complete range of banking and other
financial services to corporations and individuals worldwide
through its basic businesses: securities and other processing;
credit cards; retail banking; corporate banking; trust;
investment management and private banking; and finance. (icn)