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