Manulife says receiver irresponsible
Manulife says receiver irresponsible
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Insurance firm PT Asuransi Jiwa Manulife Indonesia (AJMI), which
was declared bankrupt by the Central Jakarta Commercial Court
last week, has criticized the court-appointed receiver as
"totally irresponsible".
AJMI president Philip Hampden-Smith expressed on Monday fears
that millions of dollars of assets could be squandered.
He was quoted by AFP as saying that the law gave receivers
sweeping powers which could be misused by any receiver "who is
not there working for the right reasons".
"He (the receiver) can, with his associates, look at ways of
damaging the company further which includes settling legal
claims, settling suits and making loans.
"Even if we win back control of the company we have to
basically follow through on these," said Hampden-Smith. The
company is appealing the bankruptcy ruling to the Supreme Court.
On Monday, newspapers published an advertisement from the
court-appointed receiver, Kalisutan, telling policy holders and
other creditors "to immediately submit their claims".
Hampden-Smith told AFP the wording was "basically inciting
customers to cash in policies ... it is totally irresponsible,
part of the overall plan to damage and ruin the company."
AJMI, the local unit of Canada's insurer Manulife Financial
Corp., is Indonesia's fourth largest insurance firm with assets
worth around Rp 3.1 trillion (about US$350 million) and some
400,000 policy holders.
The court issued the bankruptcy ruling after a bankruptcy
petition was filed by Paul Sukran, the receiver of PT Dharmala
Sakti Sejahtera, the one-timer partner of Manulife in AJMI, over
unpaid 1999 dividends. AJMI has said it did not distribute
dividends during the period.
Kalisutan was proposed as the receiver by Paul, and was
approved by the court.
Hampden-Smith met with Kalisutan late on Monday.
The bankruptcy petition launched against AJMI is seen by
Manulife as part of its two-year legal battle with the
Gondokusumo family, the owner of DSS, who has been accused of
trying to defraud Manulife.
Meanwhile, lawyer Hotman Paris Hutapea, who is also the
chairman of the Indonesian Bankruptcy Lawyer Association, said
that the fear of assets being squandered was obvious, since the
company's management will be under the authority of the receiver.
"In practice, if the declared-bankrupt company is still in the
process of appealing to the Supreme Court, the receiver should
not make any decision that can reduce the assets value. However,
it was more as an ethic and principle code rather than a written
rule," said Hotman.
According to the Bankruptcy Law No.4 /1998, a receiver and a
supervising judge act as the caretaker of the company, in which
the management will be under their authority and supervision.
Hotman added that if the receiver decided to make a
substantial decision, he or she must receive approval from the
supervising judge.
The court appointed Erwin Mangatas Malau as the supervising
judge.
In a related development, Finance Minister Boediono met with
Vice President Hamzah Haz on Monday to report the Manulife case
as there were fears that the case could cause trouble to the
country's overall economy.
He declined to disclose the result of his meeting with Hamzah.
The Canadian government and the International Finance Corp.,
have said that the bankruptcy ruling issued against AJMI, which
is seen as a healthy insurance firm, could cause a serious blow
to foreign investors confidence in the ailing economy.
The Indonesian government has been under pressure to respond
more swiftly in the Manulife case.
Canada is a member at the country's main donor consortium
called the Consultative Group on Indonesia (CGI).