Edward Effah, board chairman, Fidelity Bank
Fidelity Bank has met the new minimum capital requirement of GH¢400 million of the Bank of Ghana (BoG).
This was after shareholders of the bank passed a special resolution on November 30 to move GH¢50 million from its income surplus to its stated capital of GH¢354 million.
According to the bank, it had about GH¢264 million as capital before the start of this year.
In April 2018, it moved GH¢20 million from its income surplus to its stated capital.
Jim Baiden, the Managing Director, also said in October GH¢70 million was injected into the bank as fresh capital.
“In terms of Capital Adequacy Ratio, Fidelity is one of the most capitalized banks in Ghana, Mr Baiden added.
“We also emerged as the most resilient bank in Ghana in a recent stress test conducted by the Central Bank (BoG).”
He said: “We have built resilience against the storms in the banking industry over the years, and our customers can rest assured that their funds and investment with us are secure, and we are well on track to meeting the new capital requirement of GH¢400 million by the Bank of Ghana.”
Edward Effah, Board Chairman of Fidelity Bank, indicated that the extra ordinary general meeting was held to get the endorsement of shareholders to pass a resolution for the transfer of the GH¢50 million capital and complete the capital requirement process.
He said Fidelity Bank is now ready to consolidate its position as a strong local bank and work to be among the top three banks in Ghana.
Speaking to Joy Fm, an Accra-based radio station, he stated: “For us, it is business as usual. We would have raised the capital even if the Bank of Ghana had not asked us to increase the capital. As you know when the capital was even GH¢120 million, we raised more than GH¢200 million,” he said.
Fidelity Bank’s attainment of the minimum capital requirement brings the total number of well capitalised commercial banks in the country to 22.
The Central Bank added that it would take action against banks that do not meet the new minimum capital requirement after December 31, this year.
By Samuel Boadi