Business Times 15 April 2004 Two more ex-bank owners to be declared debt-free The government will soon declare debt-free status for former bank owners Sjamsul Nursalim and Bob Hasan, as the two have almost settled their debts to the state, The Jakarta Post reported yesterday. The Financial Sector Policy Committee(FSPC), which groups senior economics ministers, has given its approval for Sjamsul to obtain the status after the latter had transferred assets to settle the debt, chairman of the Indonesia Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) Sjafruddin Temenggung said. Ibra was closed down in February but has until the end of this month to settle unfinished matters, including the recovery of state funds that were given to troubled banks in the wake of the late 1990s financial crisis. many of the banks have been shut down and the former owners must repay the debts. Mr Sjafruddin said that the debt-free status would only be declared after the FSPC concludes that the assets do not have any future liabilities owned to other parties. Sjamsul, who is the former owner of the now defunct Bank BDNI, had transferred ownership in three companies: tyremaker PT Gajah Tunggal, chemical firm PT GT Petrochem and shrimp producer PT Dipasena. The two first companies have been sold by Ibra to an investment firm called Garibaldi Venture Fund. The debt-free status will allow indebted former bank owners to walk free, cleared of any legal charges over alleged violations. As for Bob Hasan, Mr Sjafruddin explained that the former owner of the now-defunct Bank BUN will be declared debt-free as soon as he has hands over more assets to repay his debts. "Our audit towards the assets of nine companies he previously handed over revealed a total value of only 110 billion rupiah (S$21.3 million), which means he has to add another 40 billion rupiah to fulfill his total liability of 150 billion rupiah,' he said. Ibra, he said, requested that Bob Hasan also hand over another 14 percent of shares in his insurance firms PT Tugu Pratama. Hasan, who has recently released from prison on other graft offences, previously handed over 3.5 percent of the firm's shares. 'The shares to be handed over must not have any legal disputes with other shareholders,' he said. To date, the government has granted debt-free status to 13 ex-bank owners, including former Bank Central Asia (BCA) owner Anthony Salim - who was the largest debtor - and four other ex-bank owners just last month. Catharina Widjaja Executive Vice President Corporate Communication The Gajah Tunggal Group Jakarta