Lippo e-Net probed for allegedly misleading public
Lippo e-Net probed for allegedly misleading public
JAKARTA (JP): Listed life insurance company PT Lippo e-Net has
presented misleading information to the public to give a false
image of the company, an informed source has said.
The source said the Jakarta Stock Exchange (JSX) had sent a
report on the insurance company's alleged wrongdoing to the
Capital Market Supervisory Agency (Bapepam) for further
investigation.
JSX director for listing and supervision Harry Wiguna
confirmed that JSX had reported the case to Bapepam.
"There were some inconsistencies in the statements made by
Lippo e-Net from those printed in a distributed press release and
those made during a public expose," Harry said.
However, he said he did not know whether the inconsistencies
from the insurance company could be categorized as releasing
misleading information to the public.
"This is a task for Bapepam, which has the authority to
judge," he added.
But according to the source, one of the main inconsistent
statements made by Lippo e-Net was the company's Rp 1 trillion
investment plan in the Internet business.
"JSX has studied all the statements in the distributed press
releases, and compared them with those the company made during
their public expose," the source added.
As reported in early January, Lippo e-Net announced it would
soon allocate the above amount of fresh funds for the company's
Internet business.
It then changed its name to PT Asuransi Lippo e-Net -- with
Lippo e-Net as the company brand name -- from PT Asuransi Lippo
Life.
Dandossi Matram from Bakrie Securities said the act of
releasing inconsistent statements also meant "giving misleading
information".
"It is obvious that the two phrases have the same meaning,
with only the former one being a softer way of saying it," he
said.
Meanwhile, Bapepam chairman Herwidayatmo also confirmed over
the weekend that he also received a report from JSX on Lippo e-
Net.
"Yes, I received the report on Friday afternoon from JSX and I
have passed it on to Freddy Saragih (the agency's head of the
Company Financial Assessment Bureau)," he said.
"Bapepam will take action if there has been a breach of law in
the case," he said, adding that Bapepam would uphold the
principle of fair information disclosure to the public.
Law No. 8/1995 on capital markets clearly prohibits any party
from intentionally giving false or misleading information to the
public for any targeted purpose, including to artificially
influence share prices on the stock market.
The law threatens violators with a maximum of 10 years
imprisonment and a maximum Rp 15 billion fine.
Lippo e-Net president commissioner Billy Sindoro has denied
that the company violated any laws.
"The Internet business is of the company's interest and we
will invest in that to increase the value of stock held by
investors," he told a news conference recently.
He stressed that Lippo e-Net had about Rp 2 trillion in assets
that can be gradually used for Internet investment.
The Rp 2 trillion assets include Rp 170 billion in cash, Rp
1.2 trillion in marketable securities and the remaining in equity
participation in nonlisted affiliates.
Lippo e-Net, listed on the JSX, currently manages less than 1
percent of the insurance premium funds placed by clients in the
company as it has transferred more than 99 percent of the funds
to its affiliate, PT AIG Lippo, which is 30 percent owned by
Lippo e-Net. (udi)