Foreign news: Indonesia looks to relaxing foreign ownership

Indonesia's Financial Service Agency has said it might ease foreign ownership restrictions for Islamic banks, Reuters reports. Under a 2012 rule introduced amid calls by nationalist politicians to limit foreign ownership, an overseas bank can only own up to 40 per cent of an Indonesian lender. Nelson Tampubolon, banking supervisor at Indonesia Financial Services Authority, said the regulator was looking at relaxing overseas ownership requirements in cases where a foreign bank planned to convert an Indonesian commercial lender to an Islamic one.