Manulife seeks to go back in business soon
Rendi A. Witular, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
PT Asuransi Jiwa Manulife Indonesia (AJMI) would reopen its 73 branches Thursday, and sought to go back in business soon once the Commercial Court appointed a new independent receiver for the company which was declared bankrupt, according to a senior official.
AJMI vice president Adhi Purnomo said on Wednesday that the company expected to be able to immediately pay maturing claims of its policyholders which had been put on hold since the company was declared bankrupt by the Commercial Court two weeks ago.
"We will be back in business on Thursday. However, we expect that our service will not be limited to just registering claims but also to pay them. To accomplish that we have to wait until the court decides on the new independent receiver," said Adhi.
AJMI, the local unit of Canada's giant insurer Manulife Financial Corp., was declared bankrupt, mainly on the basis of a disputed dividend pay out in 1999, which the company elected not to issue that particular year -- a perfectly normal decision for any company. Manulife's former local partner and 40 percent shareholder, PT Dharmala Sakti Sejahtera (DSS) claims they should have received dividend money in 1999, even though it was not issued to any shareholders.
The court then appointed a receiver by the single name of Kalisutan to oversee the company. Manulife is now awaiting to hear the outcome of its appeal to the Supreme Court.
But Manulife asked the court to replace the receiver on grounds that Kalisutan was "biased" due to links with Dharmala, and thus had an intention to ruin the company. Kalisutan's qualifications also were called into question as he no longer was a member of the legal receivers association.
Kalisutan, within days of the disputed verdict, published several advertisements in national newspapers telling all AJMI policy holders to cash in their claims as soon as possible.
AJMI has some 4,000 staff and 400,000 policyholders nationwide.
Earlier this week, hospitals in Jakarta decided to reject Manulife health insurance policies on fears that the company would not be able to pay the bills due to the ongoing fiasco.
AJMI decided to reopen its offices after it won approval from the supervising judge, Edwin Mangatas.
The Commercial Court was supposed to issue on Wednesday a verdict on AJMI's request for a change in the receiver, but it had to be postponed until Thursday because the three judges who heard the Manulife bankruptcy case are currently suspended.
On Tuesday, the three judges were questioned by the high court in connection with suspicions that they had allegedly accepted bribes to declare AJMI bankrupt. The Ministry of Justice and Human Rights has released the three from their daily duties of presiding over cases pending completion of an investigation into the alleged bribery.
The Commercial Court will have new judges to decide on Manulife's demand for a change in the receiver.
If the court rules in favor of Manulife, it will be the first positive news for the Canadian company since its local unit was forced to shut down following the extraordinary verdict, which has strained relations between the Indonesian and Canadian governments.
The Canadian life insurer has been locked in a legal dispute with the now defunct Dharmala since it bought the latter's 40 percent stake in 2000 at a government auction.