Bankruptcy claim against Davomas pulled

JAKARTA (JP): The Jakarta Commercial Court has approved a request made by American Express Bank of Jakarta to withdraw an insolvency petition against the publicly-listed cocoa producer PT Davomas Abadi.

Hotman Paris Hutapea of Makarim and Taira S. law firm, who is acting on behalf of Davomas, said the court had approved the request after learning that the bank and PT Davomas had reached an agreement to settle the debt outside court.

"Amex and Davomas have reached a deal to settle the debt bilaterally outside court so there is no need for the case to go any further," he said after a closed hearing on Wednesday.

However, presiding judge Ch. Kristi Purnami Wulan, who chaired the session, declined to disclose the court's decision on the matter.

"There is no need for the press to know our decision," she said.

Wednesday's hearing was the first closed hearing held at the commercial court since it first began to enforce the country's ambitious new bankruptcy law in August.

The American Express Bank of Jakarta began legal proceedings against PT Davomas early last month to recover US$3 million in promissory notes which matured on Jan. 7 this year.

In anther development, a senior legal official said the Indonesian government planned to amend the new bankruptcy law in response to widespread concern expressed by lawyers and experts regarding implementation of the law since it came into force in August.

Supreme court judge Paulus Lotulung said in a seminar organized by the Hotman Paris Training Center on Tuesday that the new bankruptcy law had been written in haste.

"So amendments are being drafted to address the problems," he said.

He said amendments required include rulings on the size of claim which can be brought by a plaintiff and the fee for an administrator and curators to take care of a debtor's assets.

Jakarta Commercial Court, the country's only bankruptcy court, received strong public criticism following a decision to approve a bankruptcy petition for Rp 94.13 million (US$12.55 million) filed by two private citizens, Hussein Sani and Johan Subekti, against property firm PT Modernland realty, which has total assets worth more than RP 1 trillion.

The plaintiffs were seeking redress for a down payment placed on apartments being developed by Modernland.

The size of the fee set for administrators and curators has also been the source of controversy and in one case last month outstripped the size of the plaintiff's claim. (aly)