Test on BCA bidders to be completed next week: BI
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.