Indonesia's PT Berlian Laju Tanker , the world's third-largest chemical shipper, hopes to restructure its $1.9 billion debt by the year-end and will switch its focus to niche liquid chemical and gas transport, its founder and chairman said in a rare media interview, The Chicago Tribune reported on a Reuters story. The country's leading oil and gas shipper defaulted on several debt instruments earlier this year and has been talking to creditors about restructuring its operations and finances.

A court ruling that Indonesia's biggest mobile phone operator is bankrupt, after not paying a disputed debt of just half a million dollars, has revived concerns over flawed laws that invite abuse and can trip up even highly profitable companies in Southeast Asia's largest economy, CNBC reported on a Reuters story. Analysts and shareholders have brushed the decision aside as one of the quirks of the country's legal system, saying it is almost inevitable that it will be overturned when Telkomsel appeals to the country's supreme court.

Indonesia’s influential Bakrie family is facing another debt crisis after creditors issued a default notice on a $437m loan, triggered by the collapse in the price of London-listed miner Bumi plc shares that had been used to guarantee the loan, the Financial Times reported. People familiar with the transaction say none of the 20 lenders in the syndicate led by Credit Suisse are likely to demand repayment even if the Bakries do not increase their collateral.

Humpuss Sea Transport Pte Ltd., a Singapore-based unit of an Indonesian shipping company, filed for Chapter 15 bankruptcy protection in the U.S., Bloomberg reported. The unit of Jakarta-based PT Humpuss Intermoda Transportasi is already under the control of liquidators in Singapore, where it was incorporated in 1996, according to Monday’s filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan. Debt and assets were listed at more than $100 million.

Units of Berlian Laju Tanker, Indonesia’s largest oil and gas shipping group, filed for Chapter 15 creditor protection in a US bankruptcy court early Wednesday morning, The Jakarta Globe reported on a Reuters story. The company’s units have listed assets and liabilities in the $50 million to $100 million range, according to a filing with the US bankruptcy court in the Southern District of New York. Under US bankruptcy laws, Chapter 15 grants a foreign company protection from creditors looking to seize its assets in the country.

An unidentified bondholder last week called for an event of default on Gajah Tunggal's outstanding dollar bonds, raising the possibility of another debt restructuring for the Indonesian tyre maker, Reuters reported on an International Financing Review story. Gajah Tunggal has not defaulted on its interest payments, but one unnamed bondholder has claimed that a Rp42bn (US$4.9m) dividend payment on June 30 constituted a technical breach of covenants on its US$435m due 2014 paper.

Shares of Muhibbah Engineering plunged 20% or 38 sen yesterday on news that Asia Petroleum Hub (APH), a big client that owes money, was in receivership, The Star reported. The stock closed at RM1.52 with 74.35 million shares traded. CIMB Research on its report yesterday said the receivership status for the APH project as reported by a foreign newspaper on Wednesday was a negative surprise. APH had been put under receivership mainly because it could not come up with other investors to help fund the development and repay its debt.

Indonesia's troubled budget-carrier PT Mandala Airlines will temporarily cease operations Thursday, while it plans to restructure its debt and seek strategic investors, the company said Wednesday, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. "We will file a debt restructuring request to the Commercial Court tomorrow [Thursday]. This is the best step to safeguard Mandala's future," the airline's President Director Diono Nurjadin told a news conference. "We will cease operations temporarily so we can focus on debt restructuring and invite several potential investors," Nurjadin added.

Indonesia said that it will tighten rules on banks’ foreign-exchange holdings and overseas borrowing to cope with capital inflows that have pushed up inflation and strengthened the rupiah this year, Bloomberg News reported today. Bank Indonesia will also reintroduce a 30 percent cap on lenders’ short-term overseas borrowing to minimize the risk of sudden capital outflows, it said yesterday. Banks must set aside 5 percent of their total foreign-exchange holdings as reserves as of March 2011, from 1 percent currently, Deputy Governor Budi Mulya said yesterday.

PT Bakrie & Brothers, one of Indonesia's largest conglomerates with interests in mining, energy and telecoms, is emerging from a $1.3 billion debt restructuring in control of its major companies. Last year, Bakrie & Brothers' financial position looked untenable. It racked up huge debts, in return pledging to lenders its shares in related companies as collateral. When share prices in its companies unexpectedly collapsed during the global subprime crisis, Bakrie & Brothers was unable to top up its collateral and was forced into debt talks.