JAKARTA, July 18: Indonesia’s central bank on Wednesday announced new regulations limiting bank ownership to 40 per cent, but it was unclear whether the cap would affect a $7.3 billion acquisition bid for Bank Danamon.

DBS Group of Singapore announced plans to buy Danamon in April, although the deal was put on hold after Bank Indonesia (BI) — the nation’s central bank —declined approval until it had issued new regulations on foreign ownership.

Unveiling the new rules on Wednesday, BI said exceptions would be allowed, leaving the door open for the deal to go ahead if specific, as yet unspecified, criteria were met. The new rules limit ownership of new acquisitions by financial institutions to 40 per cent, non-financial institutions to 30 per cent and families or individuals to 20 per cent, said Mulya Effendi Siregar, an executive director at BI.—AFP