Banking sector clean up was cruel – ASEPA

The Alliance for Social Equity and Public Accountability (ASEPA) has described the banking sector clean up as a cruel exercise.

According to the organisation, the exercise was also criminal because it was carried out in contravention to Act 930, other banking regulations and international banking standards.

In 2018 a financial sector cleanup undertaken by the Bank of Ghana resulted in the revocation of the licenses of many financial institutions including banks and microfinance companies.

The Executive Director of ASEPA, Mensah Thompson at a press conference in Accra on Tuesday stated that it will be the height of injustice if the persons behind the crimes committed during the financial sector clean are allowed to go scot-free.

He said Ghanaians must join hands to ensure that perpetrators of the cruel and criminal revocation of Ghanaian banks licenses are ruthlessly dealt with according to the law.

“About the government owing uniBank, the bank has also offered loans to contractors doing government contracts. These contractors are waiting for the government to pay them so that they can also go and service their loans at uniBank. Pay these contractors, the government says no. The government failed to pay its indebtedness to these contractors who were, in turn, owing these banks. After this, the Bank of Ghana sent Auditors to these banks and told them that the monies owed these banks must be written off. How cruel can you be, who regulates a sector like this? You do this and further reduce the financial situation of the banks and turn round to tell us that the banks are insolvent,” he said.

Banks that were collapsed and officially ceased to be in existence after the financial Sector included Capital Bank and UT Bank who were taken over by GCB Bank in a purchase and assumption agreement.

However, seven banks namely: The Royal Bank, Heritage Bank, Construction Bank, uniBank Sovereign Bank, The Beige Bank, and Premium Bank had their licenses revoked and placed under the Consolidated Bank of Ghana.

Six Banks merged (3 mergers): First Atlantic Merchant Bank Limited and Energy Commercial Bank, OmniBank Ghana Limited and Bank Sahel Sahara Ghana and First National Bank and GHL Bank Limited reached merger agreements.