Audio By Carbonatix
The Minority in Parliament is demanding a bi-partisan probe into the circumstances surrounding the collapse of two indigenous banks in Ghana.
Cassiel Ato Forson who is the Minority spokesperson on Finance suspects something untoward may have happened and demanded investigations into it.
Addressing a press conference, Tuesday, Mr Forson said the managers of the two banks- UT and Capital- must be dealt with if they are found culpable of any wrongdoing.
The two companies had their licenses revoked after it emerged they were in a distressed state. Their assets were taken over by the GCB Bank in quite a dramatic fashion Monday.
The workers of the two banks reported to work Monday morning but closed as workers of GCB Bank. Their fate will be decided after a skills assessment has been done by the new owners
Even though a number of reasons have been cited for the collapse of the two banks, non-performing loans appear to be the biggest reason.
The Central Bank has already begun investigating the liabilities of the two banks and hinted of sanctions against the managers if they are found to have engaged in any wrongdoing.
But the Minority in Parliament is not impressed with the scope of the investigations. Cassiel Ato Forson wants a more transparent, independent investigations into the circumstances surrounding the collapse.
He is concerned about the future of GCB Bank and how it will be able to manage the liabilities of the two banks.
For a company that has shareholders, the former Deputy Finance Minister wanted to know if there was a resolution by the shareholders before the takeover was done.
According to him, it was the erstwhile NDC government that saved the GCB from total collapse after the TOR debt left the GCB Bank in a distressed state by the J.A Kufuor government TOR debt.
He wants assurance that the takeover will not lead to GCB Bank going red again.
Corporate Secret
Cassiel Ato Forson accused the Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia of making public, a leaked report on the state of commercial banks in 2016.
Dr Mahamudu Bawumia in the heat of the 2016 elections said, some eight banks were in distress because of the poor management of the economy and predicted anyone of them could collapse.
The news about the collapse of UT and Capital Banks may not have come as a surprise at all given the prediction by the former Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana who is now the Vice President.
But Cassiel Ato Forson said the Vice President took advantage of his position as a former deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana and got access to privileged information and made it public.
According to him, the erstwhile John Mahama government caused an "Asset quality test" to be to be conducted on all the commercial banks in the year 2016.
He said the test was completed after seven months and a report was issued to the government and to the Bank of Ghana Board, which he Forson was a member of.
He said a small portion of the report was leaked to Bawumia who then used it on the campaign platform.
Ato Forson has therefore challenged Dr Bawumia to tell Ghanaians how many banks are now in red and risk having their licenses revocated.
Latest Stories
-
GBLA 2026 set to honour business excellence and leadership
2 minutes -
Feed Ghana programme targets tomato self-sufficiency to stabilise prices
2 minutes -
Intelligence is accumulated experience in motion
8 minutes -
MoFA distributes 40k bags of fertilizer, drones to boost food production in Northern Ghana
8 minutes -
NDC orchestrated CJ’s removal on weak grounds – Alfred Tuah-Yeboah
17 minutes -
Amenfiman Community Bank delivers 71% return on investment to shareholders
30 minutes -
Future NPP government could reopen discontinued criminal cases – Tuah-Yeboah
37 minutes -
Your retention problem isn’t about pay – It’s about progress
37 minutes -
Parliament to push for compensation for GBC over land taken by GRA—Felix Ofosu
38 minutes -
SeamlessHR backs Ghana’s digital transformation agenda at the 10th Ghana CEO Summit
43 minutes -
Gov’t distributes 40,000 bags of fertiliser and drones to farmers under Feed Ghana Programme
51 minutes -
GRASAG welcomes Ghana National Research Fund launch, urges graduate inclusion
52 minutes -
There’s nothing like consensual sexual affair between teacher, student – GES
55 minutes -
EOCO declares Joseph Owusu Badu wanted over alleged investment fraud
55 minutes -
EPA introduces eco-labels for ACs and refrigerators
59 minutes