Bank Indonesia to defer single presence rule implementation

BI governor agreed to 2 years postponement as state-owned lenders proposed for total exemption.

State-Owned Enterprises Minister Mustafa Abubakar said earlier this week Bank Indonesia (BI) acting governor Darmin Nasution had given his approval for the postponement of the policy in a meeting that was also attended by Industry Minister Mohamad Suleman Hidayat and two BI directors.

"For the two years postponement, they have agreed. I haven't received the letter yet, but it has been decided in the meeting," Mustafa said.

Darmin was not available for comment, but BI spokesperson Difi Johansyah said the central bank had not made a final decision on the matter.

"The decision has to be made in the Board of Governors meeting," Difi said.

The single presence policy, first introduced in 2006, requires majority shareholders in more than one bank to merge or divest their ownership, or create a holding company, no later than by the end of this year.

The policy resulted in Malaysia's CIMB Group merging Bank Lippo and Bank Niaga in 2008 to form CIMB Niaga.

View the full story in the Jakarta Post.