BII picks new chief as founder quits

JAKARTA (JP): Shareholders of Bank Internasional Indonesia (BII) approved on Wednesday the appointment of Hanafi Gan as the bank's new president director.

Gan, a Malaysian citizen who was previously an executive of Bank of America's Jakarta office, replaced Indra Widjaja, who with his father Eka Tjipta Widjaja -- then president commissioner of the bank -- resigned last month.

The Widjaja family, the bank's founding shareholders, stepped down from the director and commissioner positions in the bank following their failure to pass the government's mandated "fit and proper test" over banking practice violations.

The bank's extraordinary shareholders' meeting also approved the appointment of four new directors.

The new directors are former senior adviser of BII Hiroshi Tadano, former executive of New York's Chase Manhattan Corporation Donald J. Hayek, former executive of National Bank of Kuwait's Singapore office Timothy L. Jones and former executive of local car manufacturer PT Astra International Yap Tjay Soen.

Two directors, Ronnie Sujanto and Herman Sugiarto, maintained their positions.

In addition, the shareholders approved the appointment of five professionals to sit on the bank's five-member board of commissioners.

A senior accountant from Drs. Utomo & Mulia accounting firm, Teddy Pawitra, will sit as chief commissioner, with members including Winarto Soemarto, Aditiawan Chandra, Suad Husnan Sudiarso.

Other members of the Widjaja family, including Oesman Widjaja, Muktar Widjaja and Djafar Widjaja, are no longer on the board of commissioners.

BII is one of several local banks in the government-sponsored recapitalization program, under which shareholders are required to provide at least 20 percent of the capital requirement while the government will act as stand-by buyer to provide the remainder.

After BII's rights issue in July -- as part of the bank recapitalization program -- the government holds a 57.14 percent stake in the bank, while the Widjaja family owns 27.12 percent and the public 15.74 percent.

At Wednesday's meeting, shareholders also approved a plan to sell up to 10 percent of the government's stake in the bank to foreign investors through a direct placement.

The bank has appointed Goldman Sachc Group Inc. and Salomon Smith and Barney as financial advisers to find strategic partners for the bank.

BII posted a loss of Rp 1.02 trillion in the first half of 1999, compared to a loss of Rp 5.41 trillion in the same period last year.

BII was founded by the Eka Tjipta Widjaja family, which also controls the Sinar Mas Group, the country's second-largest diversified conglomerate. (udi)