AN ASSESSMENT OF THE ASSET MANAGEMENT COMPANY MODEL IN THE REFORM OF INDONESIA'S BANKING SECTOR

Abstract

Lack of satisfactory progress with reform of the banking sector may imply that the chosen remedies were unworkable in the Indonesian context. These remedies, suggested by the international community, appear not to have taken proper account of the commercial and political ramifications of the new institutions and mechanisms that were to be put in place. Of key importance is the practical difficulty of finding suitable buyers for banks and assets taken over by the new bank restructuring agency. Almost the entire corporate sector was in distress as a result of the crisis, while foreign buyers were reluctant to commit themselves given an inadequate legal system as well as significant nationalistic opposition to the sale of corporate assets to foreign entities. This article discusses reasons for the failure to achieve several principal objectives of the reforms, and canvasses alternative approaches that might be more successful.