Temasek unit opts to sell stake in BII

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Responding to the central bank's single presence policy, a unit of a subsidiary of Singapore's investment firm Temasek Holdings will divest all shares in BII, an official says.

"We have evaluated our options under the single presence policy in Indonesian banking and are exploring the sale of our investment in Bank Internasional Indonesia (BII)," Temasek corporate affairs managing director Myrna Thomas said in a statement send to The Jakarta Post on Monday.

The policy, introduced late last year, forbids the same shareholder from owning majority stakes in more than one bank.

Temasek's Fullerton Financial Holdings Pte Ltd. since 2003 has owned 75 percent of the shares of Sorak consortium, which in turn owns a 55.85 percent stake in BII, the country's sixth-largest bank by assets.

Fullerton also holds a 59 percent majority share in the country's fifth-largest bank, Bank Danamon.

The news of the divestment was first published by The Wall Street Journal Asia edition on Wednesday using an anonymous source, saying the potential bidder for the stake included "cash-rich Chinese banks eager to expand in emerging markets globally".

Myrna said Temasek was still optimistic about the country's financial services sector.

Also issuing a press statement Monday, BII president director Henry Ho confirmed the decision.

"The management of BII respects Fullerton's decision. This is, however, a shareholder's issue and does not affect the day-to-day operations of the bank. The bank continues to operate on the basis of business as usual," Henry said, adding that Fullerton expected to complete the sale before 2010.

Bank Danamon said in a statement that by choosing the option to sell its BII stake, Fullerton had ruled out the other option of merging BII with Danamon.

The single presence policy is part of a central bank policy package aimed to encourage consolidation within the country's banking sector, which boasts more than 130 banks.

The policy package is expected to create a healthier and more dynamic banking industry, the sector hit the hardest by the 1997-1998 financial crisis.

The policy also requires investors who own controlling stakes in more than one bank to merge their banks, conduct an acquisition or establish a holding company by 2010.

The consolidation process includes a requirement to increase minimum capitalization of Rp 100 billion by the end of 2010, through either injections or mergers.

Those failing to achieve the minimum capitalization will be allowed to operate only as secondary or rural banks.