Groupe Nduom is challenging the reasons provided by the Bank of Ghana for revoking the license of GN Savings and Loans Limited during the banking sector clean-up exercise which commenced in 2017.
This dispute arises at a time when the Director of Communications of the Bank of Ghana, Bernard Otabil, recently refuted claims made by Dr. Papa Kwesi Nduom (Founder of Groupe Nduom) that the central bank was influenced by former finance minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, to deliberately collapse GN Savings and Loans.
The apex bank had earlier stated that GN Savings and Loans violated a number of financial regulations, including the Foreign Exchange Act of 2006 (Act 723).
It maintained that its decision to revoke the license of GN Savings and Loans Limited remains justified as the financial institution was insolvent prior to the revocation of its operational license.
However, in response to the Bank of Ghana, Groupe Nduom described the statements made by the Central Bank as ‘wildly inaccurate’.
“The statements Bank of Ghana (BoG) issued on August 16, 2019, regarding GN Savings are wildly inaccurate. BoG was aware that GN Savings had available to it more than the GH¢30.33 million that it relied upon to declare it insolvent.
“GN Savings was not allowed by regulation, and GN Bank did not engage in illegal foreign currency transfers. GN Savings complied with all requirements laid down by BoG as a savings and loans company and wrote a detailed report in June 2019 to prove that its business was moving positively forward,” the statement read.
“These facts are indisputable. BoG made a mistake that it must admit to and correct. Today, the Government of Ghana, its agencies, and contractors owe Groupe Nduom companies over GH¢7.1 billion. With this money, customers will be paid, and GN Savings will have enough capital to become a universal bank once again,” Groupe Nduom contested.
As part of the banking sector clean-up exercise, GN Savings and Loans was one of the 23 financial institutions that were placed under receivership by the Central Bank and subsequently collapsed after it was said to have breached a number of financial sector regulations, per the BoG.
