More ex-bankers agree to new debt settlement

More ex-bankers agree to new debt settlement

M. Taufiqurrahman, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) said on
Tuesday that it had reached agreements to step up the final
settlement of debts with eight additional former bank owners
under the Deeds of Indebtedness (APU) scheme.

Previously on Monday, the agency said it had signed agreements
with 10 former bank owners.

IBRA chairman Syafruddin Temenggung said that signatories of
the agreements, called the settlement acceleration agreement and
total settlement, were former bank owners who had been
cooperative and had paid part of their obligation in cash and had
surrendered their assets to IBRA.

"In the agreement, debtors have agreed to pay the difference
if the cash and the assets appraised by the independent auditor
and later sold by IBRA are insufficient (to repay their debts),"
he said at a press briefing here.

Among the former bank owners who signed agreements on Tuesday
were Hasjim Djojohadikusumo of Bank Papan Sejahtera, Nirwan
Bakrie of Bank Nusa Nasional, Thee Ning Kong of Bank Baja
Internasional and Ganda Eka Handria of Bank Sanho.

The signatories were shareholders of private banks closed down
by the government in the wake of a severe financial crisis in the
late 1990s.

They are among 30 owners of liquidated banks on IBRA's list of
persons responsible for repaying state funds provided to the
banks to bolster their liquidity amid massive runs during the
financial crisis.

The APU scheme covers debts totaling Rp 18 trillion (US$1.96
billion), which must be repaid through a mixture of assets and
cash settlements.

Separately, the deputy chairman of IBRA for asset management
investment, Taufik Ma'roef, said IBRA had filed lawsuits against
former bank owners under the APU scheme who were considered
uncooperative, including Fadel Muhammad, Trijono Gondokusumo and
Santoso Sumali.