BoG needs to up game on supervision - Accountants

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The Bank of Ghana (BoG) has been urged to intensify its supervisory role on the financial sector especially on the operations of microfinance companies in the country.

According to the Institute of Chartered Accountants Ghana (ICAG), the negligence of the Central Bank and other regulatory bodies could be blamed for the persistent fraud cases recorded in the microfinance sector.

President of the Institute Professor Kwame Boasiako Omane- Antwi has said customers and consumers will need to be protected by the regulatory bodies in the financial sector.

“Quality supervision in the financial sector is indeed the best way of ensuring economic development and growth, but here we need to make sure we can protect the consumer, and protection of the consumer comes with strong regulatory measures; this is where Bank of Ghana comes in,” he stated.

Professor Omane Antwi added: “We have all witnessed what happened and the various reports that have come from the Bank of Ghana; it is because of them that we realise that supervision needs to be improved.”

His call follows reports that customers of DKM microfinance and God is Love Fun Club have been swindled of their investments running into millions of cedis.

Though the Bank of Ghana has stepped in to help the customers retrieve their monies, their efforts are yet to yield any significant results.

The Central Bank is also yet to conclude a process led by the Auditor General’s Department to liquidate the assets and repay customers their locked up investments.

Professor Omane- Antwi has assured of the Institute’s support to develop strategies to improve the financial sector.

“As an accountancy body, we have thought it wise to put this on a hot burner by making sure that we will come together -- the accountancy body, Institute of Accounting Ghana, the Bank of Ghana, and any stakeholder that has interest in the financial service sector – to debate it and come out with lessons that will help to actually improve the financial safety sector,” he assured.