BII Finance Center fights bankruptcy claim
BII Finance Center fights bankruptcy claim
JAKARTA (JP): Local financing company BII Finance Center
challenged on Monday the bankruptcy petition filed by three
foreign creditors.
The defendant's lawyer Hotman Paris Hutapea said the
bankruptcy claim against his client was immature because the
creditors signed an agreement in April to support BII Finance's
debt rescheduling proposal.
"My client has no mature debts so the bankruptcy claim cannot
be filed," Hotman said.
The 1998 Bankruptcy Law stipulates a defendant can only be
named in a bankruptcy case if it has at least one mature debt and
a minimum of two creditors.
Bahrain-based Arab Banking Corporation, Credit Agricole
Indosuez of France and Seoul-based Asian Banking Corporation
filed a bankruptcy petition against BII Finance at the Jakarta
Commercial Court in early July.
The three banks were the agent banks for three syndicated
loans totaling US$65.3 million extended to BII Finance.
The loans matured between October 1998 and January 1999.
The plaintiff's lawyer Luhut MP. Pangaribuan of Pangaribuan,
Pondaag & Santoso law firm said a debt restructuring agreement
never existed.
"My client never signed a debt restructuring agreement with
BII Finance Center," he said.
Luhut said the media only had a draft of a debt restructuring
agreement which was never agreed upon by both the creditors and
the borrower.
"Pretending there was a debt restructuring agreement is a way
to avoid paying its debts to us," he said.
The court will hand down its verdict on the case on Aug. 2.
BII Finance Center is an affiliate of publicly listed Bank
Internasional Indonesia.
Separately, the Jakarta Commercial Court declared businessman
Leo Andyanto bankrupt at the request of PT Astria Raya Bank. Leo
failed to repay a principal loan of Rp 2 billion (about $290,000)
which matured in December 1997.
Astria Raya is one of 16 banks closed by the government in
November 1997, but it has not yet been liquidated.
The bank's bankruptcy claim against one of its borrowers was
supported by Bank Indonesia, which is liquidating the 16 closed
banks. (udi)