Blog

DEFUNCT BANKS CEOs CASES GET MAY ADJOURNMENT

Banks | Matilda Akakpo | April 28, 2020 | Comment off

The Trials of owners and heads of defunct banks whose actions allegedly led to the banking crisis in recent years have been adjourned to latter parts f May due to restrictions imposed on the courts as measures to fight the Covid-19 pandemic. A total of 19 persons who were involved in the running of the banks have been charged before different division of the Accra High Court for their alleged involvements in misapplication of funds of their respective banks. UniBank Former Finance Minister Dr Kwabena Duffour, founder of defunct UniBank Ghana Limited, and eight other officers of the bank are in court from their alleged ‘dishonest’ spending of over GHS5.7 billion belonging to customers and investors of the insolvent private bank. Among the accused persons charged is the former 2nd Deputy Government of the Bank of Ghana (BoG), Dr. Johnson Pandit Asiama, under whose watch over GHS450 million was allegedly doled out to uniBank, without following laid-down procedures according to the Attorney General’s Department. Dr Duffour, Dr Asiama, Kwabena Duffour II, Ekow Nyarko Dadzi-Dennis, Elsie Dansoa Kyereh, Jeffrey Amon, Benjamin Ofori, and Kwadwo Opoku Okoh are facing a total of 68 charges, including fraudulent transaction and money laundering, but they have all pleaded not guilty to the charges. Capital Bank The Founder and Chief Executive Officer of defunct Capital Bank, Ato Essien, the bank’s former Managing Director, Fitzgerald Odonkor, together with Tetteh Nettey, a former Managing Director of MC Management Service owned by Ato Essien, as well as a businesswoman, Kate Quartye Papafio, are before the court charged with 26 counts of conspiracy to steal, stealing, and money laundering. The four are alleged to have misappropriated a total of GHS620 million liquidity support given to the bank by the BoG to enable it to service its maturing debt. The accused persons, according to the state, opened various bank accounts with Capital Bank through which the GHS675 million BoG liquidity support was transferred to, while others were carried in jute bags to Ato Essien as payment for business promotion. UT Bank Former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of insolvent UT Bank, Prince Kofi Amoabeng, and five others have been charged for their alleged conducts, leading to depositors of the bank losing money. The businessman and Dr Johnson Pandit Asiama, as well as four of his former employees, are before the court facing some 42 charges, including causing financial loss to the state. Mr Amoabeng is alleged to have transferred the investment some 15 companies totaling GHS51,334,387.08 and $8,799,917 from UT Bank to UT Holdings, a company he owns, without the knowledge and consent of the investors. Dr Asiama, on the hand, is accused of allegedly causing financial loss to the state by approving GHS460 million liquidity support for UT Bank, without following laid-down procedures. Apart from Mr. Amoabeng and Dr Asiama, other persons charged are Raymond Amanfu, former Head of Banking Supervision Department (BSD) at BoG from 2014 to October 2017; UT Holdings Limited  (UT Holdings); Catherine Johnson, former Head of Treasury who had also acted as the Head of Corporate Banking of UT and Robert Kwesi Armah, a former General Manager of Corporate Banking of UT. Adjournment The case involving Ato Essien, and others was to begin with the prosecution led by Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Yvonne Atakora-Obuobisa, set to call its first witness, but the Covid-19 restrictions affected the process. The other cases are at pre-trail stages as the Office of the Attorney General is taking steps to disclose all the documents it intends to rely on for the trial. The cases have all been adjourned to late May 2020 as a result of the restrictions. Source: Daily Guide, Thursday April 28, 2020  

READ MORE

CBG EXPLAINS MODALITIES FOR PAYMENT OF CASH AND BONDS TO CUSTOMERS OF COLLAPSED FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE RECEIVER

BOG | Matilda Akakpo | April 6, 2020 | Comment off

Consolidated Bank Ghana (CBG) has clarified how customers of collapsed financial institutions can access their cash and bonds, following government’s decision to pay the affected customers. It will be recalled that Government has provided a combination of cash and bonds totalling Five Billion Ghana Cedis (GHS5,000,000,000.00) to pay depositors of the collapsed financial institutions. At the direction of the Receiver of the defunct MFI & S&Ls the bank has almost concluded paying affected customers of the defunct institutions the cash component of their validated investments. For customers whose deposits exceed the cash payment threshold as advised by the Receiver, a special account has been opened to hold the balance payable. According to CBG, funds in excess of the cut-off for cash payment will be held in special holding accounts opened for the depositors and paid in equal instalments every six months over a five year period after the initial payment is made in March 2021. The Bank has established a mechanism for those depositors who wish to obtain cash ahead of the liquidation schedule to discount those expected cashflows with the bank at a very competitive rate. Managing Director of the Bank, Daniel Wilson Addo pledged the Bank’s commitment to play its role professionally and in its usual customer centric approach to business. He assured the depositors of the defunct financial institutions that the bank will soon publish the modalities involved to all concerned.  The Managing Director concluded by reminding everyone of the need to observe the various safety protocols that have been advised to ensure containment of the COVID-19 virus. He advised customers to call 0302216000 or send a mail to talktous@cbg.com.gh for all enquiries.

READ MORE

RECEIVER ISSUES NOTICE ON BOND PAYMENT TO CUSTOMERS OF DEFUNCT S&LS AND MFIS WHOSE CLAIMS HAVE BEEN VALIDATED IN THE RESOLUTION PROCESS

BOG | Matilda Akakpo | April 2, 2020 | Comment off

The Receiver for the purposes of winding down the affairs of 347 Microfinance Companies and the 23 Savings & Loans And Finance House Companies wishes to notify the general public especially individuals and institutions whose claims have been validated in the resolution process that, effective Thursday 2 April 2020, Consolidated Bank Ghana Limited will be issuing a Bond Payment to depositors who have not been fully paid by the application of the cash component of Government’s funding provided for the exercise. See Press Release below:IN THE MATTER OF THE BANKS AND SPECIALISED DEPOSIT-TAKING INSTITUTIONS ACT, 2016(ACT 930) AND IN THE MATTER OF THE RECEIVERSHIPS OF 347 MICROFINANCE COMPANIES AND THE 23 SAVINGS AND LOANS AND FINANCE HOUSE COMPANIES AND NOTICE OF FULL PAYMENTS TO DEPOSITORS OF RESOLVED MICROFINANCE, AND SAVINGS AND LOANS AND FINANCE HOUSE COMPANIES WHOSE CLAIMS HAVE BEEN VALIDATED IN THE RESOLUTION PROCESS In line with Government’s commitment to protect depositors’ funds and to shore up public confidence in the financial system, Government has made available to the Receiver of the above resolved companies, as well as the Official Liquidator of the Micro Credit Companies in official liquidation,  a combination of cash and Financial Instrument totalling approximately GHS5bn to fully settle outstanding depositor claims of these institutions. As at Tuesday 31 March 2020, of the GHS1bn cash component of Government’s funding made available to the Receiver/Official Liquidator on 24 February 2020, approximately GHS920m has been disbursed, leaving an amount of approximately GHS80m to be distributed to relevant depositors of the above resolved entities and Micro Credit institutions placed in official liquidation. Notice is hereby given that with effect from Thursday 2 April 2020, Consolidated Bank Ghana Ltd (“CBG”) will be issuing a Government backed non- interest bearing  Financial Instrument worth approximately GHS4bn to depositors of the above institutions whose validated and agreed claims in the resolution exercises have not been fully extinguished by the application of the GHS1bn cash component of Government’s funding provided for this purpose. The main features of the Government backed Financial Instrument are as follows: Coupon Rate: Zero coupon rate i.e. Non-interest bearing Tenure: 5 Years Draw downs: 10 Equal instalments every six months Timing of First draw down payment: 31 March 2021. Depositors should please note that based on information to be provided by the Receiver/Official Liquidator on depositors due for payment, CBG will open Non Interest bearing Accounts for all depositors whose  validated and agreed claim(s) remain outstanding after cash payments have been made to them by the Receiver/Official Liquidator, to defray part of their deposit claims in the resolution exercises. Depositors should note further that SMS messages will be sent from the Receiver/Official Liquidator to relevant depositors, setting out their Account numbers and the amounts credited to their Non Interest bearing Accounts held at CBG. The Receiver and Official Liquidator are in discussions with CBG aimed at providing depositors the opportunity to liquidate portions of their Account balances prior to the first draw down date of 31 March 2021. Stakeholders may direct all questions or clarifications on the above to the coordinators below:Tel: 024 243 9441/ 0550000966www.ghreceiverships.comSGDERIC NANA NIPAH

READ MORE

NOTICE TO ALL BORROWERS AND LOAN DEFAULTERS

BOG | Matilda Akakpo | March 16, 2020 | Comment off

The receiver for 347 collapsed Microfinance companies and 23 Savings and Loans and Finance House Companies in a statement issued to the general public, person/persons/institutions who took loan facilities from these defunct companies are to visit any of the maintained branches of these institutions for repayment of the loans immediately. “Notice to all Borrowers and Loan Defaulters,” the statement added  IN THE MATTER OF THE BANKS AND SPECIALISED DEPOSIT-TAKING INSTITUTIONS ACT, 2016 (ACT 930)  AND  IN THE MATTER OF THE RECEIVERSHIPS OF THE 347 MICROFINANCE COMPANIES AND THE 23 SAVINGS & LOANS AND FINANCE HOUSE COMPANIES  NOTICE TO ALL BORROWERS AND LOAN DEFAULTERS Pursuant to Section 123 (1) of the Banks and Specialised Deposit-Taking Institutions Act, 2016 (Act 930) (“the Act”), Bank of Ghana (“BoG”) on 31 May 2019 and 16 August 2019 revoked the operating licenses of 347 insolvent Microfinance Companies and 23 Savings and Loans and Finance House Companies respectively, and in accordance with Section 123(2) of the Act appointed Eric Nana Nipah, a Director of PricewaterhouseCoopers Ghana Limited (“PwC”) as the Receiver for the purposes of winding down the affairs of these Companies. Section 127 (3) of the Act mandates the Receiver to realise all assets of the resolved companies, including outstanding loans and advances, for the benefit of creditors. Accordingly, the Receiver wishes to notify the general public especially person/persons/institutions who took loan facilities from these defunct companies to visit any of the maintained branches of these institutions for repayment of the loans immediately. (for a list of the maintained branches, please visit the Receiver’s website: www.ghreceiverships.com). Customers may settle their outstanding obligations to the defunct companies through the respective MTN MoMo numbers and/or receivership bank accounts listed on the below tables. The Receiver would like to entreat all borrowers to cooperate with his authorised representatives/agents in this regard. Borrowers are to note that, the Receiver will pursue all recalcitrant defaulters through all available means as permitted by the Act including, but not limited to, legal actions and publishing names of recalcitrant defaulters in national and international newspapers. Please note that the working hours for the maintained branches of the defunct companies remain from 8:00am to 5:00pm, Mondays to Fridays. For further information on the Loan Repayments, please call 024 243 9441/ 0550000966. You may also write to the; The Receiver, 25 B Manet Towers, PMB CT42, Cantonments, Accra, Ghana www.ghreceiverships.com SGD ERIC NANA NIPAH

READ MORE

UPDATE ON FULL PAYMENTS TO DEPOSITORS WHOSE CLAIMS HAVE BEEN VALIDATED IN THE RESOLUTION PROCESS

BOG | Matilda Akakpo | March 2, 2020 | Comment off

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TcABs3h22PM&feature=emb_logo A Press Statement issued by the Receiver for the 347 collapsed Microfinance companies and 23 Savings and Loans and Finance House Companies indicated the status of full payments to depositors. “Update on full payments to depositors whose claims have been validated in the resolution process” the statement added IN THE MATTER OF THE BANKS AND SPECIALISED DEPOSIT-TAKING INSTITUTIONS ACT, 2016 (ACT 930) AND IN THE MATTER OF THE RECEIVERSHIPS OF THE 347 MICROFINANCE COMPANIES AND THE 23 SAVINGS & LOANS AND FINANCE HOUSE COMPANIES UPDATE ON FULL PAYMENTS TO DEPOSITORS WHOSE CLAIMS HAVE BEEN VALIDATED IN THE RESOLUTION PROCESS  In accordance with Section 123 of the Banks and Specialised deposit-taking institutions Act, 2016 (“Act 930”), Bank of Ghana (BoG) appointed Eric Nana Nipah, a Director of PricewaterhouseCoopers (Ghana) Limited (PwC) as Receiver for the purposes of winding down the affairs of 347 Micro Finance Companies (“MFCs”) as well as 23 Savings and Loans and Finance House Companies (“S&Ls”) whose licenses were revoked on 31 May 2019 and 16 August 2019 respectively. As indicated in the Press Release of Monday 24 February 2020, the primary duties of the Receiver include: recovering and maximising asset realisations for the benefit of Creditors including mainly Depositors; and realising assets and distributing them in accordance with Section 135 of Act 930, to satisfy the indebtedness of these institutions to their body of Creditors including depositors, to the extent possible. Status of Depositor payments prior to 24 February 2020 Based on Section 135 of Act 930, the priority of ranking regarding Creditor payments in the above receiverships place depositor payments down the ranking ladder and at the level of Unsecured Creditor payments. Given challenges experienced in the realisation of assets of these resolved companies, and considering the order of Creditor payments per Act 930 enumerated above,  full or partial settlement of depositor claims from asset realisations of these companies is likely to be minimal; in some cases, depositors of some of these companies are not likely to receive any payments in the resolution process.  In line with Government’s commitment to protect depositors funds however, and to shore up public confidence in the financial system, at the commencement of the resolution process, Government provided the Receiver with funds to cushion the immense financial burden that the very vulnerable depositors were likely to face in the receiverships of these resolved MFCs and S&Ls. Prior to 24 February 2020, out of over 360,000 depositor claims in number worth approximately GHS6.4bn received in the MFCs and S&Ls receiverships, as well as in the 39 Micro Credit Companies (“MCCs”) placed in Official liquidation, more than 320,000 in number of validated claims were fully settled in cash. To fully settle the remaining approximately 40,000 depositor claims in these receiverships as well as in the official liquidation of the 39 MCCs, Government has provided additional funding by way of a combination of cash and bonds totalling approximately GHS5bn to the Receiver and Official Liquidator, to ensure that all outstanding depositor claims duly submitted and validated in the resolution process are totally satisfied.  Depositor payments from 24 February 2020 to 31 March 2020 The payment of the remaining approximately 40,000 depositor claims begun in earnest on Monday 24 February 2020 funded by the cash component of the GHS5bn amounting to GHS1bn.  As at Friday 28 February 2020, depositor claims of approximately 15,000 in number, worth over GHS745million have been transferred to Consolidated Bank Ltd (“CBG”) the paying bank, for payment to depositors, from the GHS1bn cash component of funds received from Government. We are in the process of reconciling with CBG, the number and value of depositor claims which have actually been paid to date. Payment of outstanding depositor claims which have been validated and agreed in the receiverships and official liquidation of the resolved institutions will continue this week and beyond and would be concluded by 31 March 2020.  It is expected that overall, approximately 352,0000 depositor claims will be fully settled with cash only by the conclusion of depositor payments and that the remaining 8,000 depositor claims (worst case scenario), worth approximately GHS4bn will be fully settled within this period i.e. by 31 March 2020 with a combination of cash and Bonds. Full details of the bonds to be issued to depositors whose claims will not be fully satisfied by the payment of cash alone will be disclosed in the course of this week. Stakeholders may direct all concerns on the above receiverships to: The Receiver, 25 B Manet Towers PMB CT42, Cantonments Accra, Ghana Tel: +233 (0) 242 439 441/+233(0) 20 4904250/ 0550000966 www.ghreceiverships.com SGD ERIC NANA NIPAH

READ MORE
ERIC_NIPAHH

Collapsed Banks: 8,884 customers have been paid – CBG

BOG‚ Saving and Loans | 2019@@2019 | February 28, 2020 | Comment off

As at close of today, February 27, 2020, a total of 8,884 customers of the collapsed savings and loans (MS&Ls), Micro Finance Institutions (MFIs) and Micro-credit Institutions have been paid their monies, Consolidated Bank of Ghana has announced. For Savings and Loans, 449 social organisations, 418 companies and 152 rural banks and finance houses have been paid. 132 social organisations, 22 rural banks and finance houses, 48 financial security entities and 44 companies have so far received their locked-up funds with regard to MFIs. Under Micro-Credit Institutions, 28 companies and institutions have so far been paid their monies. The Bank of Ghana appointed Director of Price Waterhouse Coopers Limited, Eric Nana Nipah, as the Receiver in accordance with Section 123 of ACT 930 of Bank of Ghana (BoG). Eric Nana Nipah, however, noted that a combination of cash and bond will be used to settle depositors. Meanwhile, he averred he is hopeful that with the above funding arrangement, about 97.6% of individual claimants will receive their entire deposits in cash. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrNsNRK7qW8

READ MORE
ERIC_NIPAHH

Full Settlement Of Depositors Gradually Progressing–Receiver Reveals

BOG‚ Saving and Loans | 2019@@2019 | February 27, 2020 | Comment off

The Receiver for 347 Micro Finance companies as well as 23 Savings and Loans and Finance House companies whose licenses were revoked on 31 May 2019 and 16 August 2019 respectively, has issued a notice to depositors and the general public on full payments of locked-up funds. Speaking in an interview on 26th February 2020, The Receiver indicated that full and final payments are ongoing. He explained that the Government has made available to the Receiver a combination of cash and bonds totaling approximately GHS5bn to fully settle outstanding depositor claims of these institutions as well as of the 39 Micro Credit institutions in official liquidation. The Receiver stated that once ongoing payments are completed, over 352,000 claims will have been fully paid, leaving a difference about 8,000 claims, to clear by way of bonds only. As part of payment modalities, CBG will open new accounts for all depositors whose claims have been validated and agreed in the receiverships of the above companies. Following this, SMS messages will be sent out from the Receiver to depositors due for payment, setting out the account number and cash amount due to the depositor, which they can then withdraw. Depositors are informed that the Receiver will fully settle outstanding depositor claims once these claims have been validated and agreed upon. Stakeholders may direct all concerns on the above receiverships to www.ghreceiverships.com

READ MORE