Merrill Lynch to organize conference on capital market

JAKARTA (JP): Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc., a United States-based securities firm, will organize a conference on the future of the Indonesian capital market here on Nov. 14-15, an executive said here yesterday.

The executive, Mitchell Shivers, said the conference will explore the opportunities in the capital market bill, which is currently being deliberated in the House of Representatives.

The bill, when enacted, is likely to foster the development of an asset management industry, particularly open-end mutual funds, he said.

The firm's managing director for Asia Pacific, Brian A. Murdock, based in Hong Kong, announced that the seminar is to be hosted by an investment advisory subsidiary, Merrill Lynch Asset Management, in cooperation with the Capital Market Supervisory Agency (Bapepam) at the Grand Hyatt hotel.

"Our goal through this conference is to help encourage the development of the capital market industry and advance asset management capabilities in Indonesia," Murdock said after inspecting the subsidiary's new office.

He said Merrill Lynch also plans to establish a joint venture, to be called PT Merrill Lynch Indonesia, with PT Persada Kian Lestari on Oct. 26.

Merrill Lynch will hold an 80-percent stake in the planned joint venture while its Indonesian counterpart will hold the other 20 percent, he said.

Murdock said that the planned joint company will apply for a license to conduct an institutional securities business in Indonesia that will include corporate finance, trading, underwriting, asset management and research.

Merrill Lynch, jointly with PT Danareksa, led the US$1.16 billion privatization of the state-owned PT Indosat, which listed its shares on the New York Stock Exchange last year.(kod)