Despite changes, show must go on, BCA staff say
JAKARTA (JP): To some people, changes are not that daunting after all.
At least that is how a couple of Bank Central Asia (BCA) employees are feeling at the moment as the country's largest retail bank may change hands to be controlled by a new foreign owner.
The House of Representatives finally approved late on Wednesday the government plan to sell a 51 percent stake in the bank to strategic investors.
The two BCA staff members anticipated that the divestment program would have a positive effect both for the bank and the overall economy.
"I don't see why we have to be afraid of all this. New owners come and go in this business. As long as it can drive the company toward improvement, then why not?," an account officer of a BCA branch in Bandung told The Jakarta Post on the condition of anonymity on Thursday.
"I do not think we're going to need much adjustment to our public service duties. We're already good at that," the 28-year- old official added.
"Not to mention that the government will obtain some income out of the (House's) approval," she said.
Her opinion was echoed by her colleague who worked at a Central Jakarta branch, saying that it was the top-level management who had to worry about the changes.
"As for the rest of us, we'll just continue to carry on with our main duty, which is to serve the public," the 32-year-old credit analyst, who also refused to be named, said.
Support of the employees will be crucial to ensure the divestment process goes smoothly.
A high profile attempt by Standard Chartered Plc. in 1999 to acquire Bank Bali, a local retail bank, failed partly due to strong resistance from the bank's employees.
An attempt to contact leaders of the bank's employee union was unsuccessful.
The BCA sale plan is part of a recent agreement between the government and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which has approved the disbursement of a US$395 million loan to Indonesia.
The government expects to be able to raise around Rp 5.2 trillion ($570 million) from the BCA sale.
Late last year, legislators blocked the plan, which prompted the IMF to suspend its $5 billion loan tranche program to the country.
Chairman of the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) I Putu Ary Suta said that two strategic investors had submitted bids for the BCA stake. He declined to name the bidders.
Newbridge Capital and a joint venture between a local investment company and a Hong Kong firm had reportedly submitted bids last year.
Recent reports also suggested that international banking giants including Citibank, ABN Amro and DBS Bank had expressed interest in BCA.
Legislators have insisted that the 51 percent of BCA stake should be sold to a highly reputable foreign institution, to prevent the Salim Group, the founder of the bank, from reentering the bank.
BCA was nationalized by the government in 1999 in the aftermath of the Asian financial crisis.
BCA staff now hope that the entry of a new foreign owner will bring about a higher level of professionalism in the bank, assuming the new investor is from a respected business group and has a sound track record.(10)