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.