BI to finish screening of BCA bidders soon

BI to finish screening of BCA bidders soon

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Bank Indonesia will submit the results of its fit-and-proper
test on the bidders of Bank Central Asia (BCA) to the Indonesian
Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) by next week, according to
senior deputy governor Anwar Nasution.

"We will surrender the results of the test to IBRA by next
week," he told reporters during a seminar on Thursday.

If realized, IBRA should be able to announce the winning
bidder later this month, or in early March.

Four bidders are vying for the government's 51 percent stake
in BCA, the country's largest retail bank.

All of four of the bidders are consortiums; two of them are
foreign-led consortiums.

They are U.K.-based Standard Chartered Bank Plc., and the U.S.
investment firm, Farallon Investment. The other two local
consortiums were led by GKBI, and Bank Mega.

The fit-and-proper test is made to help ensure that bad
bankers won't have a controlling stake in the banking industry
and to prevent the Salim Group, the former owner of BCA, from re-
entering the bank.

The government is targeted to collect between Rp 5 trillion to
Rp 6 trillion from the disposal of its shares in BCA to help plug
the 2002 deficit.

But the success of the BCA sale program would also help revive
investor confidence in Indonesia's ailing economy.

The government also expected that the entry of a reputable
investor into BCA would be helpful for the government's overall
efforts to boost the local banking industry.

Without underrating others, of all the bidders, Standard
Chartered and Farallon are clearly regarded as clear favorites.