Tat Lee cuts RI exposure

Tat Lee cuts RI exposure

SINGAPORE (Dow Jones): Tat Lee Bank Ltd of Singapore said yesterday that it has reduced its loan exposure to Indonesian clients with Singapore assets as collateral, in line with the fall in property and equity values, confirming a report in the Business Times.

A Tat Lee Bank spokeswoman said in a telephone interview: "Our quantum of loans extended to Indonesian clients has been reduced since December last year."

The bank said in March that as at December 1997, it had an exposure of S$502 million (US$300.6) in loans to Indonesian customers operating in Singapore.

The spokeswoman declined to disclose the outstanding exposure, but confirmed the newspaper report that the reduction came from both repayment of loans that have matured and adjustment of credit lines.

Tat Lee Bank is in the process of merging with Keppel Bank Ltd.