LAST YEAR MANOJ Nanwani, a research analyst at
BNP Paribas Peregrine, had almost completed the depressing
task of surveying the distressed Indonesian banking sector
when he stumbled across a nugget in the dross. "It's a real
bank!" he announced to his clients, proof that there was still
a flicker of life in the country hit worst by Asia's 1997
financial crisis.
The commendable bank was a small regional operation based in
Java, one of a select group that came through the crisis almost
unscathed. Bank NISP's success sprang from its concentration on
lending to small and medium-size companies and latterly retail
consumers; its base in Bandung, which meant it was closer to and
knew more about the affairs of its customers; and its long-term
adherence to good governance.
Now, five years after the crisis, a lot more banks are facing up
to reality, spurred on by lower interest rates and the...
