Dragon Bank's representative loses license
Dragon Bank's representative loses license
JAKARTA (JP): The Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) has
revoked the operational license of the representative office of
the Vanuatu-based Dragon Bank International Limited in Indonesia
for operating in unlicensed activities.
BKPM announced Saturday that all facilities given to the
bank's representative office, such as permits to hire foreign
workers and multiple exit/reentry permits for its staff, were
also annulled.
The investment board did not specifically disclose the mistake
of the bank's representative, but sources said that Dragon Bank's
representative had operated as a bank instead of an investment
firm as stipulated in the license issued by BKPM.
An executive of Dragon Bank, who refused to be identified,
said that the bank's executives "warmly welcome" the investment
board's decision to revoke the bank's operational permit.
"We highly respect the decision and we will obey all the
existing rules that we should have followed," he told The Jakarta
Post by phone on Saturday.
He agreed that Dragon Bank should have had an operational
permit from the Ministry of Finance, with a recommendation from
Bank Indonesia.
The controversial license given to Dragon Bank had been widely
debated in the media, and speculations made as to the reason
behind the issuance of the investment permit to the bank, which,
according to existing regulations, is overseen by the Ministry of
Finance.
The Ministry of Finance is in charge of licensing all
companies involved in banking, financing, insurance and capital
market activities, while BKPM is responsible for issuing
investment permits in business sectors outside the financial and
mining activities.
The bank's official earlier denied the allegation that the
banks had violated the permit, saying that Dragon Bank's
representative office was engaged in telecommunication projects
in cooperation with a local company.
Yee Mei Mei, an executive of the bank's Indonesian
representative office is currently engaged in a legal dispute
with the branch office of Standard Chartered Bank.
Mei Mei, a Hong Kong national, filed a lawsuit against
Standard Chartered Bank for allegedly blocking her account of
around Rp 1 billion (US$45 million) without justification.
In the lawsuit, she claimed damages of $300 million to cover
losses resulted from the freezing of her account. She claimed the
funds would be used to finance activities of Bank Dragon's office
here.
Standard Chartered Bank said that it froze the account on
recommendation from Bank Indonesia.
Bank Indonesia Governor J. Soedradjad Djiwandono refused last
week to comment on the central bank's role in the blocking of the
account. (hen/bsr)