Bapepam says 49 brokers do not have financial problems

Ika Krismantari, THE JAKARTA POST, JAKARTA | Mon, 02/09/2009 10:19 AM  

The stock market regulator has declared that 49 brokers under scrutiny do not have financial problems, an official says. 

Nurhaida, divisional head for securities transactions at the Capital Market and Financial Institution Supervisory Agency (Bapepam-LK), said recently the investigations into the 49 securities companies had drawn to a close, with the result being that none of the companies had “significant problems” in relation to their financial performance. 

“Their net adjusted working capitals are all still more than Rp 25 billion [US$2.27 million],” she said. 

The investigation was launched last December by Bapepam to monitor the performance of the companies, which were severely affected by the market turbulence in October, when the main index took a nosedive. 

At present, there are 121 brokerage companies registered with the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX). 

“Maybe there are several things that need improvement, while the rest is more about administrative problems, in which we spotted some differences. But we have resolved that,” said Nurhaida, referring to the 49 companies. 

However, she did not reveal the identities of the securities firms under investigation. 

Securities companies listed as members of the IDX are required to have a  minimum net adjusted working capital worth of Rp 25 billion. 

The stock market plunge last October has threatened the businesses of brokerage companies in the country, with many of them now believed to have inflated their financial reports in order to meet the capital requirement of Rp 25 billion. 

The latest data from the IDX shows profits of the 121 securities houses listed on the bourse declined by a whopping 70.2 percent to Rp 864 billion in the January to September 2008 period, down Rp 2.9 trillion from the same period the year before. 

To make sure that the work of brokers remained on the right track and did not violate market regulations, Bapepam launched investigations into more than 50 brokerage firms operating in Indonesia. 

Of those cases, Bapepam revealed massive fraud in only one of the cases — that of PT Sarijaya Permana Sekuritas, whose president commissioner allegedly embezzled investor funds worth Rp 245 billion. 

It was not until an intensive investigation by the IDX that Sarijaya was found to be in negative territory, Rp 5.6 trillion below the adjusted working capital requirement and far below what it had reported to the watchdog. 

On Jan. 6, the IDX decided to suspend Sarijaya from all trading activities. 

Nurhaida said the suspension could be lifted as soon as Sarijaya had improved its net adjusted working capital. 

Not long after Sarijaya’s suspension, the IDX also suspended trading by PT Dinar Sekuritas, at the company’s request to facilitate internal restructuring. Based on its statement to the IDX, its net adjusted working capital has dropped to Rp 12.2 billion from the minimum permissible level. 

Bapepam and the IDX are planning to question another 50 brokerage companies as a follow-up to the first 50 investigations. 

IDX director Guntur Pasaribu told The Jakarta Post that the IDX was still waiting for Bapepam’s plan to continue questioning the 50 new companies.