Bapepam sanctions 10 securities companies

JAKARTA (JP): The Capital Market Supervisory Agency (Bapepam) said on Friday it had sanctioned ten investment management firms for violating capital market regulations.

Bapepam said in a press statement that nine of the investment firms had their operations suspended, while one had their license revoked by the capital market watchdog.

Of the nine firms suspended, eight -- PT Bintang Nusantara Securities, PT Finan Corpindo Nusa, PT Merrill Lynch Indonesia, PT OCBC Sikap Securities, PT PDFCI Securities, PT Pranata Securities, PT Primarindo Securities and PT UOBB Securities -- were ordered to cease operations for six months.

The ninth company, PT Orientama Inti Asset Management, was ordered to halt operations for three months.

Should the firms fail to meet the requirements of the regulation within the suspension period, Bapepam will consider revoking their licenses, Detik.Com quoted the statement as saying.

Bapepam revoked the license of PT Amstell Securities, while PT Morgan Grenfell Astra Investment had returned its business license to the agency following the firm's liquidation. (iwa)