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).