Test on BCA bidders to be completed next week: BI
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Bank Indonesia Governor Sjahril Sabirin said on Thursday that the fit and proper test on the four bidders of the government's 51 percent stake in the giant Bank Central Asia (BCA) would be completed next week.
Sjahril said that the result would be submitted to the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA), which controls the BCA shares, at the end of the week.
"Hopefully, we can submit the result of the fit and proper test on BCA bidders to IBRA at the end of next week, to be followed by the announcement of the winner by IBRA," he was quoted by Antara as saying.
The four bidders for BCA include a Standard Chartered Bank-led consortium, Farallon Capital Management consortium, GKBI consortium and Bank Mega consortium. The last two are local consortia.
The bidders via IBRA submitted the necessary documents for the fit and proper test to the central bank earlier this week.
The fit and proper test, which includes a series of 'administrative' screenings and interviews, is designed to ensure that no bad bankers could gain control over the country's banking sector.
Another objective is to help ensure that the bidders are not linked to BCA founder, the Salim Group, who has been prohibited by the government from repurchasing the bank.
All the bidders are required to sign a statement stipulating that they have no links with the Salim Group or its affiliates whatsoever.
Since the government prohibits investors from using domestic loans, the fit-and-proper test would also require them to reveal their funding sources which they intend to use to acquire the bank.
The government through IBRA nationalized BCA in 1998 to save the bank from the devastating impact of the 1997 financial crisis.
There has been concern that Salim, who had violated banking law by channeling a large chunk of the bank's money to affiliated businesses, is trying hard to repurchase the bank via a nominee.
IBRA said earlier it would need around two weeks to determine the winner after the BI-administered test, the closely-watched BCA auction should then be finalized by the end of March.
The BCA sale is part of a key reform program agreed to with the International Monetary Fund.
Completion of the sale is crucial to maintain the support of the IMF particularly as the government is seeking for a debt rescheduling facility from the Paris Club of creditor nations which will convene in April.