The Second Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Mrs. Elsie Addo Awadzi has assured that a good number of banks remain healthy and robust, and have met or are poised to meet the new minimum capital requirement of GHC 400 million by the end December 2018.
At least 15 banks are yet to declare their position on meeting the new minimum capital requirement with three months to the deadline. Seven banks have reached the target with seven others undertaking various measures to recapitalize.
These six banks include; the Consolidated bank, Republic bank, Access bank, Zenith Bank, Barclays Bank, Ecobank Ghana as well as GCB Bank.
Speaking at the Ghana Bar Association Annual General Conference on the theme “Banking Crisis – The Role of the Regulator” in Koforidua, Mrs. Awadzi stressed that not all banks were wayward, and not everyone who was associated with the failed banks was complicit, adding, it is unfortunate a few bad nuts created bad press for the industry as a whole.
The Deputy Governor said, the turmoil that was created by the seven banks that failed, was reflective of a creeping culture of disrespect for the rule of law, ethics, and systems.
“To be fair, banks, and indeed businesses in general, fail for all manner of reasons. The bank failures we have witnessed in Ghana in the recent past were, however, not caused by peculiar forces external to these banks and neither were they caused by force majeure,” she added.
She noted that the Bank is working at strengthening the regulatory and supervisory capacity through improved systems, processes, accountability, and training, to enable it to better identify violations and early warning signs, enforce the law, and ensure that banks take prompt corrective action to address emerging risks.
To this end the central bank is also strengthening the crisis management framework to help it contain, manage, and resolve crises promptly.
Awadzi emphasized that the BoG is bent on implementing the deposit protection scheme established under the Ghana Deposit Protection Act, 2016 (Act 931) as amended, to provide a safety net for vulnerable depositors in the event of a bank failure.
By Joshua W. Amlanu
