Seasoned technocrat Mahendra Siregar was chosen as OJK chair.
he House of Representatives has selected the new seven-member board of commissioners for the Financial Services Authority (OJK), in a decision that will shape Indonesian finance industry-related policies for the next five years.
House Commission XI, which oversees the financial services industry, chose Mahendra Siregar to head the OJK for a five-year period until 2027. Mahendra has held several positions in various ministries, with the latest as Deputy Foreign Minister in President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s current cabinet.
Mahendra is accompanied by Mirza Adityaswara as deputy chair, Dian Ediana Rae as head of banking supervision, Inarno Djajadi as head of capital market supervision, Ogi Prastomiyono as head of non-banking financial industry supervision, Sophia Issabella Watimena as head auditor and Friderica Widyasari Dewi as head of consumer education and protection.
The decision was made after a two-day fit-and-proper test that ended Thursday wherein the House narrowed down a list of 14 candidates. Following the meeting, the House needs to approve the names in a plenary session, hand over the names to the President then have the Supreme Court swear them in before July 20.
“We have agreed to propose these [seven] candidates we previously concluded to be ratified at the plenary meeting. When is the plenary session? If not Tuesday, then Thursday,” Kahar Muzakir, who chairs House Commission XI, told reporters on Thursday.
The transition to the new OJK board of commissioners comes as public scrutiny mounts over the supervisory body with the emergence of new issues in the financial sector.
House Commission XI deputy chairman Amir Uskara told reporters on Thursday that lawmakers instructed the new commissioners to prioritize addressing several pressing issues in the non-banking financial industry including the fraud case on state-owned insurer Jiwasraya, the mis-selling of unit-linked insurance and the rise of illegal peer-to-peer (P2P) lending platforms.
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