Manulife seeks to go back in business soon

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.