BNI mulling to issue asset-backed securities

BNI mulling to issue asset-backed securities

JAKARTA: PT Bank Negara Indonesia, the country's second largest
state-owned bank, is mulling an issue of asset-backed securities
later this year to raise working capital for its credit card
division, an official with the bank said on Thursday.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Dow
Jones Newswires that BNI will only go ahead with the plan if the
government changes current taxation regulations concerning asset-
back securities.

The government introduced the current taxes relating to asset-
backed securities issuance in 1998, which is partly responsible
for the absence of such notes since then, he noted.

If it goes ahead with the plan, BNI will back the notes with
credit card receivables, he said, adding the bank hasn't decide
how much it wants to raise. -- Dow Jones