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.