BII picks new chief as founder quits

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)