New OJK Chair Friderica Pledges Stronger Oversight and Investor Protection
Jakarta. Indonesia’s House of Representatives (DPR) on Wednesday confirmed Friderica Widyasari Dewi as the definitive chair of the Financial Services Authority (OJK) after she passed a confirmation test at the parliamentary finance commission.
Friderica had been serving as acting head of OJK following the resignation of former chairman Mahendra Siregar and three other officials on Jan. 30. Their departures came after Indonesia’s stock market was hit by transparency concerns and insider trading allegations raised by global index provider MSCI, which triggered a sharp decline in the country’s stock index.
“We want to ensure that Indonesia’s financial services sector is not only stable, but also trustworthy, inclusive, and able to contribute meaningfully to national economic development,” Friderica told lawmakers during the hearing.
She outlined several priorities, including strengthening integrated supervision of financial institutions with a focus on consumer protection, building an early-warning system to detect fraud or potential instability in the financial industry, and improving coordination with other government ministries and institutions.
Friderica also pledged to enhance risk management while strengthening information technology systems and cybersecurity within the financial regulator.
The 50-year-old has served as a member of the OJK Board of Commissioners since 2022 as executive head overseeing market conduct supervision and consumer protection.
She has spent decades in Indonesia’s financial industry, including as chief executive of BRI Danareksa Sekuritas before joining OJK. She also previously served as chief executive of the Indonesian Central Securities Depository (Kustodian Sentral Efek Indonesia, or KSEI).
Earlier in her career, Friderica worked at the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX), where she served as corporate secretary and later as director of development until 2015.
Friderica graduated from the Faculty of Economics at Gadjah Mada University (UGM) in 2001. She later earned a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from California State University in 2004 and completed a doctorate in Leadership and Policy Innovation at UGM in 2019.
Before entering the financial industry, she also taught finance and capital markets at several universities in Jakarta and once appeared in television soap operas.
OJK Board of Commissioners
- Chair: Friderica Widyasari Dewi
- Vice Chair: Hernawan Bekti Sasongko
- Executive Head for Capital Markets, Derivatives and Carbon Exchange Supervision: Hasan Fawzi
- Executive Head for Financial Sector Technology Innovation, Digital Financial Assets and Crypto Supervision: Adi Budiarso
- Executive Head for Market Conduct Supervision and Consumer Protection: Dicky Kartikoyono
