Dr. Ernest Addison
The Bank of Ghana has, with effect from Friday 16, 2019, revoked the licences of 23 insolvent savings and loans companies and finance house companies.
The actions, according to BoG in a statement, were taken pursuant to Section 123 (1) of the Banks and Specialised Deposit-Taking Institutions Act, 2016 (Act 930), which requires the Bank of Ghana to revoke the licence of a Bank or Specialised Deposit-Taking Institution (SDI) where the
Bank of Ghana determines that the institution is insolvent.
The Bank of Ghana has also
appointed Eric Nipah as a Receiver for the specified institutions in line with section 123 (2) of Act 930, the statement announced.
The revocation of the licences of these institutions has become necessary because they are insolvent even after a reasonable period within which the Bank of Ghana has engaged with them in the hope that they would be recapitalized by their shareholders to return them to solvency, it added.
According to the statement, it is the Bank of Ghana’s assessment that these institutions have no reasonable prospects of recovery, and that their continued existence poses severe risks to the stability of the financial system and to the interests of their
depositors.
In line with the Government’s commitment to protect depositors’ funds, the Government has made funds available to enable the Receiver pay depositors after their
claims are validated, it said.
The Receiver will in due course make an announcement with
regards to when and where payments will be made, the statement added.
The Receiver, it said, will also indicate
documents required from depositors to facilitate the validation of claims and orderly payment of validated deposits.
“Other creditors of the failed institutions will be settled by the Receiver upon validation of their claims and to the extent that the Receiver is able to
realise value from the remaining assets of these institutions.”
The Bank of Ghana has also with effect from today, revoked the licences of two non bank financial institutions, namely Express Funds International Ltd (remittance company) and Ghana Leasing Company Ltd (leasing company) which are insolvent and have been inactive for a number of years, it said.
This action is pursuant to Section 7 of the Non-Bank Financial Institutions Act, 2008 (Act 774), which mandates the Bank of Ghana to revoke the licence of a non-bank financial institution licensed under that Act if that institution among other things ceases to carry on business.
The Bank of Ghana has
notified the Registrar of Companies of the revocation of these two licences, it said.
List of Shutdown Companies
1 Accent Financial Services Ltd. Finance House
2 Adom Savings and Loans Ltd. Savings and Loans Company
3 AllTime Finance Ltd. Finance House
4 Alpha Capital Savings and Loans Ltd. Savings and Loans Company
5 ASN Financial Services Ltd. Savings and Loans Company
6 CDH Savings and Loans Ltd. Savings and Loans Company
7 Commerz Savings and Loans Ltd. Savings and Loans Company
8 Crest Finance House Ltd. Finance House
9 Dream Finance Company Ltd. Finance House
10 Express Savings and Loans Company Ltd. Savings and Loans Company
11 First African Savings & Loans Company Ltd. Savings and Loans Company
12 First Allied Savings and Loans Co. Ltd. Savings and Loans Company
13 First Ghana Savings and Loans Co. Ltd. Savings and Loans Company
14 FirstTrust Savings and Loans Ltd. Savings and Loans Company
15 Global Access Savings and Loans Company Ltd. Savings and Loans Company
16 GN Savings and Loans Ltd. Savings and Loans Company
17 Ideal Finance Ltd. Finance House
18 IFS Financial Services Ltd. Finance House
19 Legacy Capital Savings and Loans Ltd. Savings and Loans Company
20 Midland Savings and Loans Company Ltd. Savings and Loans Company
21 Sterling Financial Services Ltd. Finance House
22 Unicredit Savings and Loans Ltd. Savings and Loans Company
23 Women’s World Banking Savings and Loans Co. Ltd
BY Melvin Tarlue