Anselm Ray Sowah
The Managing Director of GCB Bank Limited, Anselm Ray Sowah, has stated that as his outfit continues with the integration process of the defunct UT and Capital banks, it will review all the current positions and situations against the planned strategy, organizational structure and staffing requirements of the expanded GCB for right-sizing.
“As a result, some jobs may eventually be affected but we will take steps to ensure we minimize the adverse impact of this integration,” he said at a press conference yesterday in Accra.
He revealed that “GCB, with the experience and capacity of running sustainable and profitable institutions over six and half decades, has the mettle to take up these two institutions to build an even stronger bank.”
Commenting further on capital adequacy, Mr Sowah said GCB had consistently, through best practice and good corporate governance, adhered to the rules and conditions of the regulatory body, saying “we shall ensure that this best practice is engrained in all our activities.”
He said that the bank’s branches-214 as against the pre-assumption spread of 161, positions GCB to attract deposits from various sectors and parts of the country at a much lower cost.
“This will enable us on-lend at lower interest rates for the benefit of the SME sector, long identified as the back-bone of the national economy.
“Relationship managers of the bank will stay in close contact with our SME and corporate customers to ensure that we provide them excellent service that will promote the sustainability and profitability of our business.”
He assured all stakeholders that GCB would provide them a strong backbone that was resilient enough to realise their dreams.
The former UT Bank and Capital Bank were compulsorily taken over by Ghana Commercial Bank (GCB Bank) following the revocation of their licences by the Bank of Ghana (BoG).
They were said to be financially insolvent, putting customers’ investments at great risk.
It forced the Bank of Ghana to intervene through the compulsory acquisition.
Meanwhile, the Minority in Parliament on Tuesday, has demanded a bi-partisan probe into the circumstances leading to the collapse of two indigenous banks.
According to Cassiel Ato Forson, Minority Spokesperson on Finance, he suspected something untoward might have orchestrated the unfortunate development, hence the need for investigations.
Addressing a press conference, Mr Forson called for the managers of the two banks to be dealt with if they were found to have been involved in any illegal behavior.
By Samuel Boadi