Information reaching THE CUSTODIAN indicates that there are moves for the Consolidated Bank Ghana Limited (CBG) to be listed on the Ghana Stock Exchange for private individuals to buy shares and own the bank.
The paper has also learnt that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has been asked to speed up the processes that would give approval to the listing.
However, tongues are said to be wagging over the move, particularly from those who have some interest in the bank and are currently in arbitration over the new financial institution.
This paper has learnt that owners of some five private banks that were merged to form the CBG after their licences were revoked by Bank of Ghana (BoG), are currently in the arbitration, fighting to get back their licences and hopefully reclaim their banks.
They are said to be wondering why there are moves to list the CBG on the stock exchange for it to be owned by private persons when the arbitration is not yet concluded.
On May 17, 2019, a High Court, Commercial Division in Accra, presided over by Justice Jenifer Abena Dadzie said, “It is the decision of this court that the decision to refer parties to arbitration not having been set aside by an appellate court, the parties are bound to undergo the arbitration, for which reason I hereby order each party to nominate its or his arbitrator within 21 days from the date of this order and the nominated arbitrators should then appoint a neutral person to be the chair of the panel to be arbitrate issues between the parties….”.
The paper has gathered that parties have since complied with the court order and have been in arbitration.
Background
CBG is an Indigenous Ghanaian Universal Bank licensed by Bank of Ghana under the Specialized Deposit – Taking Institutions Act, 2016 (Act 930).
In September 2017, the Bank of Ghana directed all universal banks in Ghana to raise their minimum capital reserves from GHC120 million (US$22.8 million) to GHC400 million (US$73.4 million).
Five banks that failed to meet the minimum requirements were merged, namely Construction Bank, Beige Bank, Royal Bank, UniBank and Sovereign Bank.
On 1 August 2018, the banking licenses of those five banks were cancelled and their assets and selected liabilities were merged to form Consolidated Bank Ghana Limited.
