Indonesia fines Singapore's Temasek in anti-monopoly violation

Indonesia fines Singapore's Temasek in anti-monopoly violation

2011-01-19 13:54:39 GMT+7 (ICT)

JAKARTA, INDONESIA (BNO NEWS) - Indonesia on Tuesday fined Singapore's investment powerhouse Temasek Holdings Pte and its nine affiliates Rp 15 billion ($1.7 million) each for violating anti-monopoly laws, local media reported.

The decision was upheld by the Indonesian Supreme Court and among Temasek's nine affiliates was cellular phone service provider PT Telekomunikasi Selular (Telkomsel). The guilty charge was ruled in 2007 and stated that Temasek had violated Indonesia's 1999 anti-monopoly law for owning Telkomsel and Indosat, the country's two biggest cell phone firms.

Indonesia then turned down Temasek's appeal, and in addition to the fines, Temasek was ordered to get rid of one of its two companies, which resulted in the 2008 sale of Indosat to Qatar Telcom for an estimated amount of $1.8 billion.

Meanwhile, Temasek expressed "dissapointment" after the decision was announced. "Temasek is disappointed that its application for Civil Review has been rejected as it has not contravened Indonesia's anti-monopoly laws," said the company's Senior Managing Director, Goh Yong Siang.

"As an international investor, Temasek continues to comply with the laws and regulations of Indonesia in its activities in Indonesia, and will duly follow up to pay the KPPU fine without prejudice to its legal position, and reserves all its rights," Goh added.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2011-01-19