Bankruptcy claim against Davomas pulled
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)