Jakarta may ease curbs on foreign ownership for Islamic banks

Jakarta

INDONESIA'S financial regulator said it may ease foreign ownership restrictions for Islamic banks - a move that could attract Middle Eastern lenders such as Bahrain's Al Baraka Banking Group. Under a 2012 rule introduced amid calls by nationalist politicians to limit foreign ownership, an overseas bank can only own up to 40 per cent of an Indonesian lender.

Nelson Tampubolon, banking supervisor at Indonesia Financial Services Authority, said the regulator is looking at relaxing overseas ownership requirements in cases where a foreign bank plans to convert an Indonesian commercial lender to an Islamic one.