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Standard Chartered Faces Fresh Hurdle In Indonesian Loan Repayment - Report
Tom Burroughes
6 April 2016
Standard Chartered, which is trying to recoup a $1 billion loan to one of Indonesia's richest men, faces further problems because a Jakarta court excluded it from a key creditor list and raised doubts over the validity of the underlying deal, Reuters reported. Standard Chartered declined to comment to WealthBriefingAsia on the matter. Standard Chartered did not comment on whether the Borneo loan is part of a portfolio of $20 billion it has already earmarked for disposal, the report said. The bank declined to comment on Borneo and Tan as it does not talk about individual clients.
The $1 billion loan was made to mining tycoon Samin Tan's coal firm, Borneo Lumbung Energi & Metal Tbk. It was one of the bank's largest exposures to a single borrower, the report said, quoting unnamed sources. Backed by Tan's coal assets, it was approved in 2011, helping Tan buy out a rival billionaire's stake in a now defunct miner, Bumi.
The UK-listed bank, which earns the bulk of its revenues in regions such as Asia, has pushed to get the Tan funds back. It sought to join the list of creditors after Borneo's largest mine suspended repayments and sought protection.
But its demand for repayment was thrown out last week by the Jakarta court administering the debt plan for the mine, Asmin Koalindo Tuhup . The court said it was unclear the Standard Chartered loan was used to develop AKT.
Court documents obtained by the news service showed that the bank's claim for more than $628 million from AKT was rejected. A similar request for $104 million made by Singapore trader Noble was also turned down.