Licensing procedures for appraisers issued

Licensing procedures for appraisers issued

JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Finance Mar'ie Muhammad issued licensing procedures for appraisers over the weekend.

Agus Haryanto, spokesman for the Ministry of Finance, said that the licensing procedures, stipulated in Minister of Finance Decree No. 57/KMK.017/1996, affect registered appraisal firms and individual appraisers.

"Already registered appraisers must also adjust themselves to the new standard," he said in a statement made available to The Jakarta Post on Saturday.

The Ministry of Finance announcement said that to date there has been no legal tool to regulate the individuals and companies operating in the appraisal sector even though the appraising profession has played an important role in the development of the capital market, as well as the banking, insurance and pension fund sectors since the 1970s.

"The new licensing procedures are issued in principal to standardize appraising activities in the absence of a special regulation," he said.

Under the new licensing procedures, individuals wishing to operate as appraisers are required to be university graduates and to pass the professional test compiled by the Indonesian Appraising Society.

In addition, individual appraisers must also be registered as members of the Indonesian Appraising Society.

Under the new licensing procedures, any company planning to operate as an appraising firm must have at least one appraiser working as an executive of the company and at least two appraising assistants and an operational data base. (hen)