IBRA won't allow Salim to repurchase BCA: Ary Suta

IBRA won't allow Salim to repurchase BCA: Ary Suta

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) stressed on
Wednesday it would stick to existing regulations in executing the
divestment program of the publicly listed Bank Central Asia
(BCA), including one that bars founding owner Salim Group from
reentering the bank.

The agency's chief I Putu Gede Ary Suta said that the
regulations set out by the Financial Sector Policy Committee
(FSPC), which groups senior economic ministers, would be upheld.

"The requirements are clear. The bidders must not have any
connection with the Salim Group. That's our guideline," Ary told
reporters.

"Breaking that regulation would violate the rules of the
game," he added.

IBRA said earlier that any sales of assets under the agency
would be annulled if there were indications that Salim Group was
involved in the transaction.

As for reports stating that Salim had forced the Malaysian
Plantation Bhd -- one of the nine bidders for the bank -- to back
out, Ary Suta said he could not confirm that, as the agency had
not received official notification regarding the withdrawal.

"We have not received any information on that. If they plan to
back out, they should notify us first."

As reported earlier, the Malaysian investor had dropped its
bid to purchase a controlling stake in the country's largest
retail bank for reasons that were unclear.

However, a number of local newspapers quoted Setiawan Djodi as
saying that Salim Group had put a lot of pressure on Malaysian
Plantation Bhd to withdraw from the bid.

Setiawan Djodi is the owner of Setco Group, the Malaysian
Plantation Group's partner in the BCA tender.

The group was one of the nine strategic partners selected to
undergo due diligence, with the investors expected to submit
their final bid before the Jan. 28 deadline.

The withdrawal of such a noteworthy investor, which owns the
Alliance Bank -- one of the top ten banks in Malaysia -- would be
another slap in the face for the agency, which has been
struggling to restore foreign investor' confidence in domestic
firms.

However, Ary Suta downplayed such concerns, arguing that
Malaysian Plantation was just one out of six foreign companies.

"It's only one company. We should not be concerned if they
pull out of the tender. It won't have any significant impact," he
said.

The agency took over BCA in 1998 after the government spent
trillions of rupiah to bail out the bank in the height of
financial crisis.

Salim Group has since been barred from reentering BCA until it
settles the huge debts it owes the government.

But, even the governor of Bank Indonesia (BI) has admitted
that it was difficult to track down Salim's presence in new
companies, especially when it uses a nominee.

The other eight bidders are: Farallon Capital, the Newbridge
Capital Inc. consortium, Standard Chartered, Bank Mega
consortium, Dynamic Choice, Indonesia Recovery Fund Limited,
Berca consortium and a consortium of Bank Panin's shareholders.

The nine investors were short-listed from 15 bidders that had
joined the preliminary bids to acquire the bank.