Matilda Akakpo – Page 3

ATO ESSIEN’S NO-CASE APPLICATION: COURT TO RULE JULY 8

BOG | Matilda Akakpo | June 11, 2021 | Comment off

The Accra High Court will on July 8, this year, rule on a submission of “no case” filed by the Founder of the defunct Capital Bank, William Ato Essien, and three others accused of stealing depositors’ funds leading to the collapse of the bank. The other accused persons are the then Managing Director of the bank, Fitzgerald Odonkor, and Tettey Nettey, the Managing Director of MC Management Services, a company said to be owned by Essien, and Kate Quartey-Papafio, a businesswoman. After the prosecution brought its case to a close, lawyers for the accused persons indicated to the court that their clients would formally apply to the court to discharge them by filing a submission of no case in line with Section 173 of the Criminal and Other Offences (Procedure) Act, 1960 (Act 30). Extension of time When the case was called yesterday, it came up that only lawyers for Odonkor and Quartey-Papafio had filed their respective submissions of no case although the deadline set by the court which was May 25, this year. Counsel for Essien, Mr Baffour Gyawu Ashia Bonsu, informed the court that he had a little challenge so could only file his client’s submission of no case last Wednesday. For his part, counsel for Nettey, Mr Addo Atuah, pleaded with the court to give him an extension of time to file, arguing that there was a mix-up with the date. The presiding judge, Justice Eric Kyei Baffour, a Justice of the Court of Appeal sitting as a High Court judge, initially declined counsel’s request, but eventually agreed. “I graciously grant extension of time for counsel for the second accused to file the written submission of no case by June 15, 2021. The Republic is to file a response to all the submissions by June 18, 2021,” he ruled. Justice Kyei Baffour then fixed July 8 for the ruling of the submission of no case. Not guilty The four accused persons have pleaded not guilty to various counts of stealing, abetment to stealing, conspiracy to steal and money laundering. State prosecutors have accused them of engaging in various illegal acts that led to the dissipation of the GH¢620 million liquidity support given to Capital Bank by the Bank of Ghana (BoG) between June 2015 and November 2016. It is the case of the prosecution that Essien, with Odonkor’s aid, transferred the liquidity support to certain companies either controlled by him or in which he had interest. According to the prosecution, GH¢130 million of the liquidity support was transferred to MC Management Services, which was later presented to the BoG as the initial capital to set up Sovereign Bank, another bank in which Essien supposedly had an interest. The prosecution further alleged that between June and October 2015, Essien, aided by Odonkor, appropriated GH¢c27.5 million of the liquidity support by carrying it in jute bags. “The money was purportedly used as payment for business promotion,” the prosecution said. With regard to Quartey-Papafio, the prosecution said as part of the scheme to further dissipate the GH¢620 million liquidity support, Essien transferred GH¢70 million of the money into Quartey-Papafio’s bank account at Cal Bank. The prosecution accused Quartey-Papafio of trying to withdraw the money in 2017 even though she was aware that Capital Bank had collapsed and was in receivership. Revocation of licence Capital Bank was one of the first banks that collapsed after a massive clean-up of financial institutions by the Bank of Ghana started in 2017. On August 14, 2017, its licence and that of UT Bank were revoked by the BoG after it had declared them insolvent. The BoG allowed the state-owned bank, GCB Bank, to acquire the two banks in order to protect depositors’ funds and to also enable them to stay afloat. The hurricane that swept through the banking sector due to the collapse of the two banks further heightened in August 2018 when the central bank collapsed five other indigenous banks and merged them into one entity, known as Consolidated Bank Ghana.

BOG BOUNCES DUFFUOR, AMOABENG

BOG | Matilda Akakpo | June 11, 2021 | Comment off

The Bank of Ghana (BoG) has insisted that it would not appear before a parliamentary committee probing into the circumstances surrounding the revocation of licences of uniBank Ghana Limited and UT Bank Limited, which became insolvent. The committee was set up by the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, in late March, 2021, following petitions presented to Parliament by former Minister of Finance and founder of the defunct uniBank, Dr. Kwabena Duffuor, and his counterpart for the defunct UT Bank Limited, Prince Kofi Amoabeng, through NDC MP Mahama Ayariga. The central bank has written to the committee saying that Dr. Duffuor and Mr. Amoabeng are trying to use the back door to review the decision it took against them for breaching banking rules. The BoG wrote through their lawyers, Bentsi-Enchill Letsa and Ankomah, explaining that the petitioners, are seeking to procure the legislature to review decisions of the central bank, saying that the decisions were taken according to its statutory powers under the Banks and Specialised Deposit Taking Institutions Act, 2016 (Act 930). According to the central bank lawyers, the appropriate forum to seek redress has been spelt out in the law and did not understand why Dr. Duffuor and Mr. Amoabeng would not use those platforms to seek redress. Channels For Grievance “The BSDTI Act provides how persons who are aggrieved with such decisions may seek redress for their grievances, and the prescribed resolution mechanisms do not include recourse to Parliament,” the central bank stated. The central bank insisted that Dr. Duffuor and Mr. Amoabeng in petitioning the Speaker of Parliament are in essence asking the legislature to instruct the BoG in its constitutional mandate of promoting economic development and the efficient operation of a banking and credit system in the country. The central bank said what the petitioners are urging Parliament to do is contrary to section 3 (2) and section 4 (1A) of the Bank of Ghana Act, 2002 (Act 613). Heated Debate On March 30, 2021, Mr. Bagbin constituted a nine-member committee headed by First Deputy Speaker Joseph Osei-Wusu, aka Joe Wise, to consider the petitions presented to Parliament by Dr. Duffuor and Mr. Amoabeng. It was a revision of his earlier directive for the setting up of a seven-member committee to go into the petitions alleging disregard to the rules of administrative justice by the BoG and the Ghana Stock Exchange in revoking their banking licences. The two petitioners, whose insolvent financial institutions were taken over by the state as part of the banking sector clean up exercise in 2017, have been calling for investigation into the actions of the regulators. Ayariga Link Dr. Duffuor and Mr. Amoabeng on March 23, 2021, laid their separate petitions before the House through the NDC MP for Bawku Central, Mahama Ayariga, on the dictates of Order 76 (1) of the Standing Orders of Parliament. Mr. Bagbin then proceeded to propose the setting up of a seven-member committee to go into the petitions, ruling that his admission of the petitions did not contravene the rule on sub-judice. Committee Members He added that, in consultation with leadership, he composed the nine-member committee to be chaired by the MP for Bekwai and First Deputy Speaker, Joseph Osei-Wusu, with others, including Alexander Afenyo-Markin (Deputy Majority Leader and NPP MP for Effutu), Joe Ghartey (NPP MP for Essikado-Ketan), Patrick Yaw Boamah (NPP MP for Okaikoi Central), and Samuel Atta- Akyea (NPP MP for Abuakwa South). The rest are James Klutse Avedzi (NDC MP for Ketu North), Cassiel Ato Forson (NDC MP for Ajumako-Enyan-Esiam), Isaac Adongo (NDC MP for Bolgatanga Central) and Elizabeth Ofosu-Adjare (NDC MP for Techiman North). Majority Protest Prior to the admission of the petitions, some members of the Majority Caucus kicked against the parliamentary probe, citing the rule on sub-judice since the issues were subject matters before the courts. The Majority Leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, in particular, had argued it was wrong for Parliament to consider the petitions and requested the Speaker to reconsider his ruling to admit the petitions. However, Mr. Bagbin, justifying his decision, ruled that the admission of the petitions did not contravene any law or provisions of the Standing Orders of Parliament, and that it was in accord to parliamentary practice. Main Petition Dr. Duffuor and Mr. Amoabeng wanted Parliament to investigate what they considered to be a disregard to the rules of administrative justice guaranteed under Article 23 of the 1992 Constitution and recommend that their banks should be given back to them. The calling for the probe is being done at the time their respective cases are undergoing both civil and criminal trials in court. Dr. Duffuor wants Parliament, in particular, to investigate the conduct of the central bank in respect of the takeover and appointment of an official administrator for uniBank Ghana Limited as well as the circumstances surrounding the revocation of the banking licence of the bank. Mr. Amoabeng, on the other hand, wants the legislative arm to investigate the conduct of the BoG and the GSE for the revocation of UT Bank’s licence and delisting the bank. According to Mr. Amoabeng, the revocation of UT Bank’s licence and the delisting of the bank from the stock exchange amounted to a conduct “without due regard to the rules of administrative justice guaranteed under Article 23 of the 1992 Constitution.” Amoabeng Interview Interestingly, Mr. Amoabeng is on record to have said that high levels of non-performing loans and thievery by some staff collapsed his bank. The central bank cited weak supervisory standards, breaches, operational weakness and persistent liquidity challenges in its cash reserve requirements as some of the reasons for the takeover, while management of UT Bank was accused of mishandling depositors’ cash by engaging in fictitious and unlawful activities.

POST BANKING SECTOR CLEAN-UP: BOG GOVERNOR BLAMES SLOW JUDICIAL PROCESS

BOG | Matilda Akakpo | June 2, 2021 | Comment off

After spending some GH¢25billion of taxpayers’ money to settle depositors of various financial institutions in a radical clean-up, only GH¢1.7billion of that cash has been recovered so far in almost four years since the beginning of that exercise – a situation the regulator has blamed on slow processes of the judicial system. According to data from the Bank of Ghana, as of March 2021 only GH¢1.5billion had been recovered from the banking sector; GH¢132.1million from the savings and loans sector; GH¢77.1million from finance houses; GH¢33.5million from micro-finance institutions; and more than GH¢870,000 from micro credit companies. The amount recovered represents just 6.8 percent of the total money spent on the clean-up programme. Meanwhile, information from the Governor of the central bank, Dr. Ernest Addison, indicates government spent some GH¢25billion in cleaning up the sector and paying depositors their funds which were locked up with the defunct financial institutions; but progress made in recovering that colossal amount has been very disappointing due to the judicial system’s slowness. “We are very far from the target. If we have been able to recover just about 7 percent of the work that is done, then it is not encouraging. Part of this problem is what’s going on in our courts; things are not moving as quickly as one would have expected,” he told journalists at a press conference in Accra. To make up for the losses, government has introduced a new tax for the banking industry this year, known as the financial sector clean-up levy, which is a 5 percent levy on profit before tax of banks – a move that was met with high resistance from the Ghana Association of Bankers but to no avail. “The financial sector clean-up and the refund of monies to depositors have restored investor confidence and protected the hard-earned savings of millions of Ghanaians. However, this has come at a huge cost to government. Government will therefore introduce a financial sector clean-up levy of 5 percent on profit-before-tax of banks to help defray outstanding commitments in the sector. The levy will be reviewed in 2024,” the budget statement stated. Background of the financial sector clean-up On August 14, 2017, Ghanaians woke up to the shocking news that two local financial institutions, UT and Capital Banks, had their licenses revoked by the Bank of Ghana, as their financial statements showed the two banks were living dead (insolvent). Then a year after, in August 2018, seven other banks – uniBank, Beige Bank, The Royal Bank, Construction Bank and Sovereign Bank – were also declared insolvent and had their licenses revoked. Again, the regulator cracked the whip on Heritage Bank and Premium Bank in January 2019, with the former said to have obtained its license through fraudulent means and the latter also declared insolvent. All these banks’ assets, with the exception of UT and Capital Banks which were taken over by the GCB Bank, have been transferred to the Consolidated Bank Ghana Ltd. The show did not end there: in March 2019, the Bank of Ghana further revoked the licenses of 347 microfinance companies which were declared insolvent. Then in August the same year, 23 Savings and Loans companies also had their licenses revoked. These actions, according to Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta, have cost government some GH¢13.6billion. Besides this, a further GH¢5billion has also been spent on the President’s directives to fully pay all depositors whose funds were locked up with the failed SDIs and MFIs; and an additional GH¢3.1billion has also been spent on supporting investors in failed asset management companies regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

BOG REVOKED UNICREDIT’S LICENCE LAWFULLY

BOG | Matilda Akakpo | March 23, 2021 | Comment off

Court dismisses entire case as being without merit A Human Rights Court in Accra has ruled that the Bank of Ghana (BoG) followed due process in revoking the license of UniCredit. HODA Holdings Limited (HODA), the majority shareholder of uniCredit Ghana Limited (uniCredit), had filed a motion on notice for judicial review in the nature of certiorari to quash the notice of BoG dated August 15, 2019 declaring uniCredit insolvent and revoking its licence to operate as a specialised deposit-taking institution. In addition, HODA also prayed the Human Rights Court for an order of injunction directed at the Bank of Ghana, their agents, assigns, privies and hirelings or otherwise howsoever described from interfering with the operations of uniCredit and to refer the subject matter of the application to arbitration. After examining and evaluating the affidavits, exhibits and the various submissions by counsel for the parties, the court, presided over by Justice Gifty Agyei Addo, dismissed the entire case of HODA Holdings Limited as being without merit. Mr Frank Davies was counsel for Bank of Ghana while Mr Adu Mante was the counsel for HODA. The court, in its judgment, affirmed BoG’s resolution powers under the Banks and Specialised Deposit-Taking Institutions Act, Act 930. The court held that the steps taken by BoG in revoking the licence of uniCredit were in accordance with due process and were lawful. Reasons BoG gave for revoking uniCredit’s licence uniCredit Ghana Limited (uniCredit), formerly Kantamanto Savings and Loans Company Limited, was given an operating licence in October1995 and commenced operations on November , 1995. In 2006, the institution was acquired by the HODA Group of Companies, and subsequently its name was changed from Kantamanto Savings and Loans Limited to uniCredit Ghana Limited in March 2007. The institution is currently overexposed to a related party, uniSecurities Limited, a sister company. The institution’s inability to access its funds from uniSecurities, even though overdue, has resulted in severe liquidity challenges and its inability to meet withdrawal requests of customers. uniCredit Savings & Loans Limited was found to be insolvent with a negative capital adequacy ratio and negative net worth following the Bank of Ghana’s assessment as of December 2018. The Bank of Ghana directed the board and management of the institution to immediately inject additional capital to address the capital deficiency, but this has not been successful. The specific issues that led to the revocation of the licence of the institution included the following: GH₵221.32m negative adjusted net worth a. The institution’s adjusted net worth of negative GH₵221.32 million as at end May 2019 indicates that its paid up capital is impaired in violation of Section 28(1) Act 930. b. The institution’s adjusted capital adequacy ratio of negative 97.83% as at end May 2019 is in violation of Section 29(2) of Act 930. GH₵160.10m non-performing-related party exposures This is mainly due to the non-performing-related party exposures of GH₵160.10 million to uniSecurities, which is far in excess of its negative net worth. c. The Institution has been breaching the statutory cash reserve ratio requirement since April 2018. d. The institution is unable to meet the deposit withdrawals of customers due to its severe liquidity challenges. The Bank of Ghana has been receiving many complaints from the institution’s customers about their inability to access their funds. e. The institution has a high percentage of non-performing loans. Dr Duffuor petitions Parliament over Unibank licence revocation In a related development, Dr Duffuor, the former Finance Minister and founder of Unibank, has petitioned Parliament to investigate the central bank over the revocation of his bank’s licence. In a statement set for discussion in the House, the former governor of the central bank petitioned the legislature to investigate the conduct of BoG in the takeover. Mr Duffuor also wants an inquiry into the appointment of an Official Administrator of Unibank Ghana Limited, as well as the circumstances surrounding the revocation of the bank’s licence in 2018. He is also asking Parliament to direct the restoration of the banking licence of Unibank Ghana Limited by BoG and remedying the harms done to the shareholders’ property rights as a result of the conduct of the central bank. Dr Duffuor, the founder of Unibank in 1997 at a time when he was BoG Governor, also wants Parliament to give any other directives it deems fit. The bank was put into administration by the BoG in 2018 and then consolidated with four other defunct banks during Ghana’s banking crisis.

AUCTION SALES! AUCTION SALES!! AUCTION SALES!!!

BOG | Matilda Akakpo | February 28, 2021 | Comment off

AUCTION SALES! AUCTION SALES!! AUCTION SALES!!! A consortium of Auctioneers (Wildos Mart, Broadway Mart, and Yakamata Mart) appointed by the Receiver of the resolved 347 Microfinance Companies (“MFIs”) and the 23 Savings & Loans and Finance House Companies (“S&Ls”) wishes to inform the general public of an auction sale of the chattels of the resolved companies. The sale of the chattels of the resolved MFIs and S&Ls will be conducted at the respective branches of the resolved MFIs and 23 S&Ls across the 16 regions from Monday 8 March 2021 until all items are sold out. Chattels to be auctioned include air conditioners – split/window, desk-top computers, fridges, water dispensers, swivel chairs, executive office tables/chairs, leather sofas, couches, flat screen television sets and generators. All interested buyers may contact any of the appointed auctioneers whose details are shown in the table below, or the Receiver’s representative on 0247143593/0202731441, if any further information is required: AUCTIONEER CONTACT Wildos Mart 0244381303 Broadway Mart 0246004242 Yakamata Mart 0243668984 Conditions and Payment Modalities: Strictly Cash down at the fall of the gavel or item will be re-auctioned. “As is where is” Highest bidder shall be the purchaser.

ENSURE PERPETRATORS OF COLLAPSED BANKS FACE THE LAW IN SECOND TENURE – BOG GOVERNOR URGED

BOG | Matilda Akakpo | February 11, 2021 | Comment off

Banking Consultant, Nana Otuo Acheampong has admonished Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr Ernest Addison, to ensure during his second tenure that persons behind the collapse of indigenous Ghanaian banks in 2017 face the law. According to him, many depositors of these collapsed banks are still faced with uncertainties and hardship as a result of the collapse. In an interaction with Citi Business News, Nana Otuo Acheampong pointed out that though some owners and managers of insolvent banks have been charged and granted bail by a court, it is still not enough. “On resolving the banks that had toxic loans, people are still waiting for some answers as to what happens to those who caused those toxic loans to be contracted in the first place,” he stressed. “We know that one or two people are already in court, but is that all? For those in court, how soon are we going to see results? So those are some of the tasks he has ahead of him or he should have on his desk to attend to,” Otuo Acheampong lamented. The renowned banking consultant urged the governor to commit time and resources towards expediting the process leading to the apprehension of all persons involved in the ruin of banks. In 2017 banks such as UT Bank, UniBank, Royal, Construction, Beige, Sovereign, Heritage and Premium banks had their licenses revoked and subsequently consolidated into one bank. Two others were also handed over to the Ghana Commercial Bank. The regulatory crackdown of these collapsed banks was based on poor business practices and weak capital positions resulting in a series of market exits.

NOTICE TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC – SALE OF LANDED PROPERTIES

BOG | Matilda Akakpo | January 26, 2021 | Comment off

IN THE MATTER OF THE BANKS AND SPECIALISED DEPOSIT-TAKING INSTITUTIONS ACT, 2016 (ACT 930) IN THE MATTER OF THE RECEIVERSHIPS OF THE 347 MICROFINANCE COMPANIES AND THE 23 SAVINGS & LOANS AND FINANCE HOUSE COMPANIES NOTICE TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC SALE OF LANDED PROPERTIES As you may be aware, pursuant to Section 123 (1) of the Banks and Specialised Deposit-Taking Institutions Act, 2016 (Act 930), Bank of Ghana (“BoG”) on 31 May 2019 and 16 August 2019 revoked the operating licenses of 347 insolvent Microfinance Companies and 23 Savings & Loans and Finance House Companies respectively. BoG in accordance with Section 123(2) of the Banks and Specialised Deposit-Taking Institutions Act, 2016 (Act 930) appointed Eric Nana Nipah, a Director of PricewaterhouseCoopers Ghana Limited (“PwC”), as the Receiver for the purposes of winding down the affairs of these institutions. A key component of the Receiver’s mandate is to secure all assets of the resolved companies and maximise their realisations for the benefit of creditors. Accordingly, the Receiver wishes to inform the general public that he is requesting for firm bids from potential buyers to acquire some Landed Properties of the resolved companies for his evaluation. Potential bidders who want to inspect the Properties or have enquires may visit the receivership website on www.ghreceiverships.com or contact the Receiver’s representative Michael Vondee on michael.nat007@gmail.com or 0244977797 to reserve an inspection appointment. Details of the condition for the sale of these properties are set out in a sales memorandum which can be assessed on the website above. All bids are to be submitted on or before 4pm on Friday, 26 March 2021. Interested bidders should submit their bids in a signed and dated formal letter to the following address: The ReceiverNo. 54 Olusegun Obasanjo High WayOpposite Accra Girls Senior High School Accra Tel: +233 (0) 302761500Attention: Eric Nana NipahSGDERIC NANA NIPAH CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD SALES MEMORANDUM

GH¢21 BILLION SPENT ON BANKING SECTOR CLEAN-UP – AKUFO-ADDO

BOG | Matilda Akakpo | January 6, 2021 | Comment off

The government expended GH¢21 billion to clean up the banking sector, the President, Nana Akufo-Addo has announced. Delivering his final ‘State of the Nation’ address to the 7th Parliament, he said “an amount of GH¢21 billion was used to fund the cleaning up exercise. These are painful lessons we all have to imbibe” The Bank of Ghana embarked on a banking sector clean-up, recapitalization, and other regulatory reforms from mid-2017 to end-December 2018 in line with its mandate to promote the safety, soundness, and stability of the financial system to support economic growth. A regulatory crackdown on poor business practices and weak capital positions in Ghana’s banking sector has resulted in a series of market exits since August 2017. The outcome is a smaller but more sustainable banking industry, though this has come at a price. A similar clean-up process, which has already resulted in hundreds of license withdrawals, has also been applied to the Microfinance and Non-Banking financial institutions sector. According to the Banking of Ghana sector report for last year, the first major assessment criteria of the reform process is the growth of the banking sector. Although the recapitalisation process scaled down the number of banks to 23 in Dec-2018 from 33 in Dec-2016, the industry’s balance sheet indicators pointed to a stronger growth performance in the key performance matrix. Growth in total assets, a key measure of the size of the banking sector, almost doubled, to 22.8 percent in 2019 from 12.3 percent in 2018, supported in part by the sustained growth in deposits since 2017, and the rapid growth recorded in 2019. From 12.7 percent in 2017, deposits growth moved up to 17.3 percent and 22.2 percent in 2018 and 2019 respectively, in recognition of the renewed and growing confidence in the banking sector following the reforms. Another positive outturn from the reforms was repositioning of the banking sector to support economic growth through intermediation. There has been a strong rebound in credit growth since the reforms took effect. Banking sector credit increased to GH¢45.2 billion in December 2019 from GH¢36.5 billion in December 2018. Growth in new advances also recovered strongly to GH¢29.7 billion during 2019 from GH¢23.3 billion in 2018. The growth in credit was broad-based across all the various economic sectors.

GH¢21 BILLION SPENT TO CLEAN UP THE FINANCIAL SECTOR – DR BAWUMIA

BOG | Matilda Akakpo | November 27, 2020 | Comment off

Vice-President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia says the government has spent GH¢21billion to clean up the financial sector. He said 99 percent of depositors of the affected banks, microfinance and savings and loans companies had been fully settled. The Vice-President was speaking at the 12th Edition of the Nation Building Updates at the Cedi Conference Centre, Department of Economics, University of Ghana. The event was on the theme, “Future of Ghana’s Economy”. He added that the government on compassionate grounds had decided to pay up to GH¢50,000 to all customers of affected Fund Management Companies while the liquidation processes continued. Dr Bawumia informed that based on the validated claims, the partial bailout would result in 89 percent of the affected individuals being fully settled. He said the relatively strong performance of the economy, among other things, led to Ghana becoming the destination of choice for Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) in West Africa, according to the 2019 World Investment Report by UNCTAD. He said the strong economy built by the Government had provided space and ability to provide the basic needs for people, both as part of a broad, inclusive, transformational development strategy and also to withstand crises like COVID-19. “The shock of COVID-19 notwithstanding, the economy is bouncing back,” he added. The Vice-President said the government’s economic transformation agenda was on course. However, he added, in the next four years the government would build on the successes of their “One District, One Factory” and “Strategic Anchor Industries” policies to further enhance agro-processing. He said government would also enhance cocoa processing, add value to minerals and petrochemicals, promote labour-intensive and light manufacturing activities. “We will continue the development of the Aluminium, Iron and Steel industries along their entire value chains through GIADEC and GIISDEC, and leverage our Regional Hub status and as hosts for the Secretariat of the AfCFTA to expand our access to regional and continental markets,” he said. The Vice-President said those things were not happening in a vacuum, and more importantly, they did not happen by accident. He said rather it came from their overarching strategy to transform the structure of the economy to add value to the country’s agricultural and natural resources as well as careful planning and execution. He said the Akufo-Addo led government was also building the foundations for industrial development to ensure sustainable, long-term economic growth as well as create jobs.

COLLAPSED S&L FIRMS: GH¢2.3 BILLION OUT OF GH¢12 BILLION IN ASSETS RECOVERED – BOG

BOG | Matilda Akakpo | November 23, 2020 | Comment off

Governor of the Bank of Ghana (BoG) has revealed an amount of GH¢2.3 billion out of GH¢12 billion in assets have been recovered by the receiver of the defunct savings and loans companies. According to Ernest Addison, all depositors of collapsed banks that became insolvent due to the clean-up exercise undertaken by the BoG have been paid. “Some of the data that I have suggests that all depositors in the banking sector have been paid their locked-up funds except for those of related parties. In terms of recoveries, approximately GH¢2.3 billion out of the stock of GH¢12 billion in assets have been recovered and we still have a long to go.” Dr Ernest Addison made this known at the central bank’s last Monetary Policy Committee press conference for the year to announce its decision on the monetary policy rate ahead of the upcoming general elections. The central bank however has maintained its policy rate at 14.5 percent for a fourth consecutive time this year owing to economic growth indicators improving and reserve buffers remaining strong. Meanwhile in August 2019, the Bank of Ghana revoked the licenses of 23 insolvent Savings and Loans companies and Finance Houses after it had earlier on in May 2019 revoked the licenses of 347 microfinance companies. These actions were part of the financial sector clean-up where some financial institutions had become distressed. The decision, according to the central bank was in line with Section 123 (1) of the Banks and Specialised Deposit-Taking Institutions Act, 2016 (Act 930), which requires the Bank of Ghana to revoke the license of a Bank or Specialised Deposit-Taking Institution (SDI) where the Bank of Ghana determines that the institution is insolvent.

Author: Matilda Akakpo