IBRA financial audit gets disclaimer opinion
JAKARTA (JP): Independent auditor Hans Tuanakota Mustofa/ Deloitte Touche Tomatsu (HTM/DTT) has given a disclaimer opinion on the 1998 to 1999 financial audit of the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA).
IBRA deputy chairman Sumantri Slamet said on Friday that the disclaimer was given due to uncertainty about the validity of financial data coming from IBRA, closed down banks and other IBRA "working partners".
Sumantri said in a news conference that IBRA would take corrective action as a follow-up to the audit result.
He said that the corrective action plan was expected to be completed by July and implemented in August.
IBRA has made the results of the audit public, available on its website, www.BPPN.go.id.
A disclaimer means that the auditor declines to give its opinion on a financial audit. An auditor usually gives an unqualified opinion or qualified opinion.
Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Finance and Industry Kwik Kian Gie said earlier this week that he would be surprised if the auditor did not give a disclaimer opinion considering the incompleteness of data within IBRA as former bank owners or debtors had destroyed the data.
Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) economist Pande Raja Silalahi said that the disclaimer opinion could further harm the reputation of IBRA if the agency failed to effectively explain the reason.
"If you have a red (a failure) rapport, you must explain it, whether it's because you've been sick or you have been with a bunch of bad boys," he said.
But Sumantri was confident that the disclaimer opinion would not affect the agency's reputation.
He said the public should understand that the complexity of issues faced by IBRA during the audit period in which many things were dependent on external institutions.
Sumantri recalled that when the government closed down banks in 1998 and 1999, IBRA-assigned auditors found difficulties entering the banks to get "a picture of the banks."
"This kind of problem caused the auditor (Hans Tuanakota/Deloitte Touche) to have doubts about the data," he said.
There have been reports that former bank owners tried to prevent IBRA auditors from immediately auditing the banks' assets after the closure in a bid to take some of the assets away before the government took over.
"I don't think the disclaimer will harm IBRA's reputation," Sumantri said.
Indeed, IBRA will be in serious trouble if this happens. The agency manages some Rp 600 trillion worth of assets transferred from the banking sector. The agency must restructure and dispose of the assets to raise cash to help finance the state budget.
A unit of the finance ministry which was established in early 1998, IBRA has been under fire for its slow progress in the restructuring of the assets and their disposal.
The agency is targeted to raise Rp 18.9 trillion this year, but has so far only raised about Rp 2.8 trillion.
Asked if the disclaimer would lead to the uncovering of a crime within the agency or the banking industry, Sumantri said that to prove it an investigative audit would need to be conducted.
"And so far there has been no demand for an investigative audit," he said.
Elsewhere, Sumantri said that on March 22, the finance minister had enacted a new accounting policy, dedicated to IBRA.
He said consultations regarding the policy had earlier been conducted with the Indonesian Accountants Association (IAI).
"The new audit process is the first experience for both IBRA as auditee and HTM/DTT as the auditor," he said.
"Based on the new accounting policy, IBRA will embark on changes or conversion of previous systems and postings into the new format of accounting policy," he added.(rei)