Bakrie gets a month to settle dispute

The Capital Market and Financial Institutions Supervisory Agency (Bapepam-LK) has granted life insurance company PT Bakrie Life the one month period it had requested to settle a dispute with customers unable to cash in their investments.

"They have asked for one month to settle this issue, and we have given them one month to do so," Bapepam-LK head A. Fuad Rahmany said on Sunday.

The supervisory body launched an investigation into Bakrie Life after the company's customers complained to Bapepam-LK they had not been able to cash in their investment funds since late last year - worth about Rp 400 billion (US$41.22 million) - as they were locked in a product called Diamond Investa.

The customers said the product's impressive high returns, 1.5 percent higher than gains derived from bank deposits, had lured them into purchasing the product.

But since the infamous stock market crash in October 2008, customers have been unable to cash in their investment funds. They said they would only take the case to the police as a last resort.

Bakrie Life's management could not be reached for comment.

The Association of Indonesian Life Insurers (AAJI) has acknowledged the dispute between the company and its customers, and has said it is willing to help out and facilitate any efforts to settle the issue.