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tate banks will be facing management changes in the next two weeks ahead of their scheduled annual general shareholders meetings (AGSMs) the banks to undergo such changes are Bank Mandiri, Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI), Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI) and Bank Tabungan Negara (BTN).

The move will be important in determining the course of some of the country'€™s largest lenders. By the end of 2014, the four banks controlled combined assets of Rp 2.22 quadrillion (US$168.35 billion), equal to 44.8 percent of the total banking industry'€™s assets.

The meetings will run consecutively, starting with Mandiri'€™s own AGSM on March 16, followed with BNI'€™s on March 17, BRI'€™s on March 19 and ending with BTN'€™s meeting on March 24.

The agenda for all four meetings includes appointing new members to the board of directors, responsible for running the day-to-day operations of the publicly listed lenders.

Wahyu Kuncoro, the assistant deputy for banking and insurance at the State-Owned Enterprises (SOE) Ministry, said it already received the names of all candidates from each bank'€™s board of commissioners, which were assigned to conduct the initial selection.

'€œThe candidates already went through a rigorous selection process, including a selection process held by a human resources consultant,'€ he said.

A final assessment team (TPA) '€” headed by the President '€” will then assess the president director candidates and give final approval of the changes. Such approval is required from the President because the lenders are profitable and strategic for the state.

The Jakarta Post'€™s sources at the ministry and Financial Services Authority (OJK), who wished to remain anonymous as a result of the sensitivity of the matter, said that the posts at Mandiri and BTN would remain occupied by their current president directors.

'€œNo changes will happen there [Mandiri and BTN], but we will see new leaders at BRI and BNI,'€ one source said.

Asmawi Syam, BRI'€™s acting president director, will be installed at the helm of the lender, replacing former boss Sofyan Basir who left for state electricity firm PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara last year. Asmawi'€™s appointment is expected to ensure smooth transition within its operations, thanks to his years of service at BRI.

He has previously said that the lender '€” which reaped the highest amount of profit among the four in 2014 '€” would intensify its micro loan portfolio in its effort to have a positive performance this year.

Meanwhile, according to another source, Achmad Baiquni '€” now BRI'€™s finance director '€” will assume the top job at BNI.

Baiquni is actually not a new figure at BNI. He began his banking career at BNI in 1984 until he was appointed as BRI director in 2010. When contacted, he declined to comment on his new assignment, saying that it was merely a rumor.

Separately, OJK chairman Muliaman D. Hadad said he pinned high hopes on the state banks to significantly contribute to the banking industry for the next five years.

'€œThey are still dominant in our banking system. An improvement in their efficiency will help boost the industry'€™s efficiency as well,'€ he said, adding that they were also expected to drive their productive loan higher.