State Bank Exim takes multi-finance firm to court

JAKARTA (JP): The state Bank Ekspor Impor Indonesia (Bank Exim) filed a bankruptcy petition against multi-finance firm PT Pacific International Finance with the commercial court on Monday.

A court source said that Bank Exim had bought promissory notes worth US$63.63 million from the multi-finance company but the bank could not cash in the notes owing to the company's financial problems.

Bank Exim is the first Indonesian state bank to bring an insolvency claim to court since the country's bankruptcy law came into operation in August this year. The first hearing will be held on Nov. 12.

A court official said that Pacific International also owed about $40 million to Bank Tabungan Negara.

Multi-finance firm PT Pacific Finance International is closely associated with Bank Pacific which was liquidated by the government early this year on account of its huge bad debts.

Bank Exim will be the fourth bank to bring a bankruptcy petition to the court after the American Express Bank's (Amex) Singapore branch filed a case against PT Ometraco Corporation and its subsidiary PT Ometraco Multi Artha and Bank PDFCI action against cardboard box producer PT Sarana Kemas Utama.

The American Express Bank of Jakarta branch also filed an insolvency case against cocoa producer PT Davomas Abadi in September but it withdrew its petition late last month because it had reached an agreement with the company for an out-of-court settlement of the $3 million debt.

In a later development, the court adjourned Monday the hearing pitting multi-finance firm PT Profilindo Indratama Finance against businessman Purnomo Onggowarsito until Nov. 10 to allow the plaintiff to complete its charges.

PT Profilindo filed a bankruptcy claim on Oct. 22 with the court after Purnomo failed to pay back a Rp 13.17 billion loan which matured on Oct. 19.

The plaintiff's lawyer, Palmer Situmorang of the Palmer Situmorang and Horas Sinaga law firm, said that businessman Purnomo had failed to service his debt since then.

"That's why we have filed a claim against Purnomo with the court," he said after the hearing on Monday. (aly)