Prudential seeks out-of-court settlement

Insurance firm PT Prudential Life Assurance said it was seeking an out-of-court settlement with a former insurance agent, Lee Bong Siong, to resolve a controversial bankruptcy case filed by the latter.

Prudential president Charlie E. Oropeza said that despite lodging an appeal with the Supreme Court over the bankruptcy ruling, the company had always been willing to settle its contract dispute with Siong out of court.

"My position remains the same as before the bankruptcy petition was filed by Siong ... We have always attempted to do that (out-of-court settlement) and there is no reason why we should not do that," said Oropeza after a press conference on Tuesday.

The commercial court declared Prudential bankrupt last month after Malaysian Siong filed suit on April 7, accusing the company of failing to pay him bonuses, and demanded Rp 366 billion (US$44 million) in damages.

The court ruled that Prudential should pay $400,000 and declared it bankrupt.

The company has appealed the ruling with the Supreme Court, but Siong failed to submit his responses to the court, which has placed him in an unfavorable position in the appeal.

Oropeza dismissed rumors Siong had not responded to the appeal because the two sides had reached an out-of-court deal in Singapore a couple of weeks ago. -- JP