The Ministry of Investment/BKPM provides clarification regarding a suspicious case involving the courier service company J&T Express in Indonesia. Yuliot Tanjung, Deputy for Investment Climate Development at the Ministry of Investment/BKPM, explains that they are currently conducting an investigation regarding the use of nominees by J&T.

"The practice in the logistics and courier industry does involve agency and cooperation systems, but this should not involve share ownership," Yuliot said to CNBC Indonesia in a brief message on Tuesday (31/10/2023).

This Indonesian logistics company recently launched their initial public offering (IPO) on the Hong Kong stock exchange on Friday (27/10). J&T Express shares began trading at a price of 11.84 HKD on Friday morning, after opening at 12 HKD. This IPO successfully raised approximately US$500 million or around IDR 7.92 trillion, making it the largest IPO on the Hong Kong stock exchange in 2023.

However, what has caught attention is the potential violation of regulations related to the Negative Investment List (DNI), which governs the limit of foreign entity ownership in courier companies, which should not exceed 49%. In their prospectus, J&T Global explains how they registered PT Global Jet Express (the parent company of J&T Indonesia) as a domestic capital company (PMDN).

"In our business, we operate through affiliate entities in Indonesia, a parent company in Indonesia, and subsidiaries. We have agreements with the parent company in Indonesia and shareholders in Indonesia, both corporate and individual," as stated in J&T's prospectus.

These agreements give J&T Global effective control over affiliated consolidation entities in Indonesia, enabling them to gain full economic benefits from operations in Indonesia and have the option to purchase all shares in Indonesian companies if Indonesian law allows it.

At the Directorate General of Legal Administration (AHU) of the Ministry of Law and Human Rights, PT Global Jet Express is registered as a Domestic Capital Investment Company (PMDN). However, in J&T's prospectus, PT Global Jet Express is acknowledged to be fully owned by Winner Star Holding Ltd. Winner Star is then owned by Onwing Global Limited, which is based in the Cayman Islands. The major shareholder of J&T Global Express is Jet Jie Lie, the founder of J&T.