Dr. Ernest Addison, Governor BoG
The Bank of Ghana has announced it has suspended the Foreign Exchange (FX) Trading Licences of Guaranty Trust Bank Ghana Limited (GTB) and FBNBank Ghana Limited (FBN).
The suspension takes effective March 18, 2024, for a period of one (1) month, in accordance with section 11 (2) of the Foreign Exchange Act 2006, (Act 723).
This followed various breaches of the foreign exchange market regulations by the affected banks, including fraudulent documentation in their foreign exchange operations which have come to the attention of Bank of Ghana (BoG).
According to the central bank, the licences of the banks would be restored at the end of the one-month suspension period once the regulator is satisfied that they had put in place effective controls to ensure strict adherence to the foreign exchange market regulations.
Reacting to the measure, FBNBank Ghana has stated that it was working with the Bank of Ghana to identify and address issues that led to the suspension of its forex trading licence.
“We would like to advise our valued customers and esteemed stakeholders that we are working with the Bank of Ghana to remediate the identified trade-related matters.
“FBNBank would like to assure its valued customers that when the suspension kicks in, the bank’s other business segments and solutions will be fully operational. This will include branch operations, agent banking partners and channels for seamless banking.
“We reaffirm our commitment to our customers and stakeholders to the provision of the full range of excellent banking services, with the assurances that we will continue to uphold the high ethical standards that we are known for,” it noted in the statement issued Tuesday, March 5, 2024.
By Samuel Boadi