Nomura has appointed Kartadjaja Intan as head of Indonesia investment banking effective Thursday, according to an internal memo seen by FinanceAsia. The move comes at a pivotal time for Indonesia's capital markets as a new administration beds down.
Intan replaces Dicky Yordan and Amir Amiruddin, previously co-heads of Indonesia investment banking for Nomura. Both left earlier this year.
Intan will be based in Jakarta and will report to Kelvin Ho, head of investment banking for Southeast Asia. He was most recently deputy CEO and deputy president director of RHB OSK Securities Indonesia where he was responsible for launching its corporate and investment banking business in Indonesia, according to the memo, which was signed by Mark Williams, head of investment banking for Asia ex Japan, and Ho.
A Nomura spokesman confirmed the contents of the memo.
Intan has more than 20 years' of experience in the securities industry and corporate sector in Indonesia and was responsible for origination and execution of M&A, ECM and DCM mandates in Indonesia for Citi and BNP Paribas.
There has been a fair bit of movement within the ranks of investment banking in Indonesia. In April, Kunardy Lie moved from Citi to Deutsche Bank as its chief country officer for Indonesia. Lie was previously head of corporate and investment banking for Citi in Indonesia. Gioshia Ralie replaced Lie, running Indonesian corporate and investment banking in an expanded role at Citi.
Capital markets activity in Indonesia has been relatively muted as the country has gone through its elections. Jakarta governor Joko Widodo has won Indonesia’s presidential election with 53% of the vote, more votes than won by Barack Obama when he was elected US president.
Indonesia's new government will be sworn in in October. The administration faces challenges ranging from a widening current-account deficit, deficient infrastructure and wasteful fuel subsidies, all of which could curb growth.
While foreign investors are keen to invest in Indonesia, the uncertain climate and changes in regulations have cast a pall on M&A activity for some time. DBS, for example, last year walked away from a $7.2 billion acquisition in Bank Danamon, as it was unable to take a majority stake in the bank.
"If you are concerned about the economic nationalism, it always happens during an election," said Muhamad Chatib Basri, Indonesia’s outgoing Finance Minister, speaking at broker CLSA's investor forum in Hong Kong on Thursday.
"If Jokowi wants to stay in power I do believe he needs to provide jobs to reduce poverty," he told the investors in the audience, saying that Indonesia needs to grow by at least 7% to do so. "I don't see any option for the Indonesian government unless we become open to foreign direct investment and also portfolio investment, because without that economic growth of 7% will not be possible."
Indonesia's IPO markets have been quiet as companies have put equity raising plans on hold leading up the elections, but taxi operator Bluebird's IPO is expected to hit the market later this year.
The country, which has moved into investment grade territory, has been active on the debt capital markets side recently, tapping the market with a debut €1 billion euro bond in July, and a $1.5 billion sukuk in September.
Basri explained that the government was looking to prepare for tighter global liquidity as the US Federal Reserve unwinds its post-crisis quantitative easing.
"It is very important to do some diversification of the source of financing," Basri told the investors.
Additional reporting by Alison Tudor-Ackroyd
