Exploring the Potential Merger of Bank Permata and Standard Chartered

Standard Chartered Bank (Stanchart) has stated that it has several options regarding its shareholdings in Indonesian banks. As is known, this British bank holds stakes in two Indonesian banks: Standard Chartered Bank Indonesia and PT Bank Permata Tbk.

Previously, Bill Winters, Stanchart's CEO, revealed that the company has several options regarding its stake in Bank Permata. First, selling one of its Indonesian assets and reinvesting in another. Second, increasing its shareholding in Bank Permata to become the controlling shareholder and then merging it with Standard Chartered Indonesia. This merger plan aims to comply with the single presence policy (SPP).

According to Bank Permata's 2016 financial report, its shareholders are PT Astra International Tbk (44.56 percent) and Standard Chartered Bank (44.56 percent). The remainder is held by the public. As of December 2016, the bank (trading code BNLI) recorded a loss of Rp 6.49 trillion, its largest ever loss.