IBRA seeks personal guarantee from debtors

IBRA seeks personal guarantee from debtors

JAKARTA (JP): The new chairman of the Indonesian Bank
Restructuring Agency (IBRA) Cacuk Sudarijanto said on Thursday
that the agency would immediately summon former owners of banks
to secure their personal guarantees in case the assets they
pledged to recover debts to the government were insufficient.

Cacuk said that IBRA would revise the debt repayment agreement
signed with the former owners of the banks in 1998.

"If the proceeds resulting from the sale of the assets are
less than their obligations, we'll ask them to make up the
balance with personal assets. But if the proceeds exceed (the
obligations) we'll return the balance," he told reporters.

The measure is actually not a new one. IBRA said last year
that it had secured personal guarantees from five of the largest
indebted bankers.

Cacuk announced the measure amid strong criticism that the
agency had received assets which turned out to have much lower
value than initially claimed by the former bank owners.

Coordinating Minister for Economy, Finance and Industry Kwik
Kian Gie launched the first attack recently, by pointing out that
an integrated shrimp industry called PT Dipasena Citra Darmaja
which was valued by IBRA-appointed appraisers at around Rp 23
trillion has turned out to be a "worn-out article."

Legislators have also lambasted IBRA over this problem.

Dipasena is among the assets pledged by Sjamsul Nursalim,
former owner of the now defunct Bank BDNI.

Sjamsul is one of the five largest debtors. The other largest
debtors are Sudono Salim, Usman Admadjaja (respectively, the
former owners of nationalized Bank BCA and Bank Danamon), Mohamad
Bob Hasan (former owner of liquidated Bank Umum Nasional), and
Samadikun Hartono (of now defunct Bank Modern).

In addition, there is another group of ex-bank owners (10
banks) who also owe the government, but smaller amounts.

The government injected more than Rp 140 trillion in liquidity
support to the ailing banks to help them stay afloat amid
plunging confidence in the domestic banking industry. Nearly Rp
100 trillion of the emergency liquidity support went to the banks
of the above debtors.

The five ex-bank owners pledged their assets in October, amid
strong public outrage.

But the government only signed a repayment deal with the five
largest debtors in November 1998. (rei)