BoG staff probed over collapse of banks

Officials of the Central Bank involved in alleged misconduct leading to the collapse of some indigenous banks are being investigated, 3news.com has gathered. Most of them will be sacked if the allegations against them are found to be true. On Thursday, the Minister of Finance confirmed the move by the Bank of Ghana when he read the 2019 budget statement. Ken Ofori-Atta disclosed that an Office of Ethics and Internal Investigations has been set up by the Central Bank “to investigate all allegations of misconduct by staff, including any role [played] in the collapse of defunct banks”. He gave the assurance that the government “will not shield anyone found complicit in the failure of these banks”. Last year, two banks – precisely UT Bank and Capital Bank – were ceded to GCB Bank after they were declared insolvent. On Wednesday, August 1, 2018, Governor Dr Ernest Addison announced the establishment of the Consolidated Bank of Ghana to take over five banks said to have been financially distressed.

• BoG establishes Consolidated Bank for 5 distressed banks

Some were accused of not using proper documents in registering as banks, thereby having their licenses revoked. These five banks were The Royal Bank, Sovereign Bank, Beige Bank, Construction Bank and uniBank. About GH¢9.9 million was expended by government to keep their heads above the waters. Unfortunately, they could not survive as GH¢450 million was capitalized for the newly established, indigenous Consolidated Bank of Ghana. But legal action has been taken against the directors of some of the collapsed banks though others are also fighting the BoG for the “unjustified” takeover. By Emmanuel Kwame Amoh|3news.com|Ghana Follow @kwame_amoh]]>