Lippo Group

The Lippo Group began with Lippo Bank, after its founder Mochtar Riady bought shares of Bank Perniagaan Indonesia (BPI) owned by businessman Hasyim Ning in 1981 that was struggling at the time. Mochtar bought the shares when he was holding important position in Bank Central Asia (BCA) that was back then owned by Salim Group and took 49% of its shares which later he share with Salim Group founder Sudono Salim. BPI, later with two other banks acquired by Mochtar such as Bank Bhumi Bahari and Bank Umum Asia to form Lippo Bank after he left BCA. later the bank is used as a platform for regional property development projects.

After its banking success, Lippo officially entered the property sector in 1990 under its subsidiary PT. Tunggal Reksakencana. The project initially started after Lippo Bank confiscated plots of land owned by its troubled customers in 3 different locations; Karawaci, Cikarang, and Karawang. In order to develop the confiscated lands, Mochtar flew to Shenzhen, China to do a comparative study in order apply the Shenzhen urban development model to his property development plan. In 1990, Lippo Cikarang was opened in Bekasi to serve as industrial hub for Japanese companies and as elite residential in the outskirt of Jakarta. Concurrently, Lippo also unveiled Lippo Karawaci which construction was completed in 1996 and include numerous infrastructures such as schools, hospital, shopping mall, hotel, and golf course. Lippo also developed a luxury cemetery San Diego Hills in Karawang that was inspired by Forest Lawn Memorial Park in the United States.

In 1993, the Lippo Group delved into the education market by establishing Pelita Harapan University and Pelita Harapan School, In 2001, with the newly minted Putian University (in Putian, Fujian Province, China) Lippo provided international training (using English) for specially-selected accounting and computer science students.

In 1997, via its investment wing Multipolar, Lippo Group bought majority shares of Matahari Putra Prima and its subsidiary Matahari Department Store from Hari Darmawan, it was rumoured that Hari owed unpaid debt to Lippo Bank and have to take care of his ill family members. The strategy was said to strengthen Lippo position in retail sector. Previously Multipolar was known to have brought Walmart and JCPenney license to operate in Indonesia from 1995 until 1998.

After the 1997 Asian financial crisis, Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (BPPN) took over partial ownership of Lippo Bank to boost its capital. Later BPPN sold 52,05% of controlling stake to SwissAsia in 2004. SwissAsia would later sold the controlling stake shortly to Malaysian sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional and was renamed Bank CIMB Niaga after its merger with Bank Niaga. After losing control over Lippo Bank to CIMB, Lippo re-entered banking industry in 2010 with Nobu Bank, amid smaller scale compared to Lippo Bank.

Lippo Group controls in excess of $15 billion in assets with significant investments in retail, media, real estate, banking, natural resources, hospitality, and healthcare industries. The group's flagship operating platforms include OUE Singapore, Lippo Karawaci Indonesia, Hypermart, Matahari, Siloam Hospitals Indonesia, First REIT, LMIR REIT, Auric Pacific, and Lippo Incheon Development.

Criticism and Controversies

Lately, Lippo Group are often being associated by its shady business practices due to scandals that has financially harmed its business partners and other business owners. Practices such as bribery, hostile takeovers, and frauds have been widely reported by its business partners or among politicians the group interacted in the past.

Bill Clinton campaign scandal

In 1996, James Riady, was in involved in US President Bill Clinton reelection campaign scandal. James Riady and his associate John Huang were indicted and pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations by himself and his corporation. He was ordered to pay an US$ 8.6 million fine for contributing foreign funds to the Democratic Party, the largest fine ever levied in a campaign finance case.

Lippo Bank double financial statement

In 2002, Lippo Bank was under fire for making a false financial statement that were released to public and Jakarta Stock Exchange. It was started when Lippo Bank Q3 report that was published on 30 September. Lippo Bank stated that there was a discrepancy between the information in the financial report presented to the public through advertisements in national newspapers on November 28, 2002 and the financial report submitted to the Jakarta Stock Exchange.

The report is presented in the form of a comparison between 30 September 2002 (audited) and 30 September 2001 (unaudited). It is stated that the Value of Foreclosed Collateral as of September 30, 2002 was 2.393 trillion rupiah (US$257 million at the time), total assets as of September 30 were 24.185 trillion rupiah (US$2.60 billion), Profit for the year as of September 30, 2002 was 98.77 billion rupiah (US$10.61 million), and the Minimum Available Capital Liability Ratio (CAR) was 24.77%. In the Financial Report of Lippo Bank as of September 30, the same date as that submitted to the Jakarta Stock Exchange on December 27, a different report was submitted. The report included a statement from Lippo Bank management that the Financial Report submitted was an "audited" Financial Report and was not accompanied by an independent auditor's report containing a Public Accountant's opinion.

As a result, Lippo Bank was fined 2.5 billion rupiah (US$291,500 in 2003) for mismanagement. After the verdict, Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (BPPN) held a meeting to restructure the Lippo Bank board of directors.