Banking Consultant, Dr. Richmond Atuahene, says banks and other investment firms have not been fair to Ghanaian investors.

According to him, banking officials have failed to adequately educate and inform clients of the risks involved in buying government bonds at the point of sale.

Their failure to do so, he says, has led to several Ghanaian bond holders losing huge chunks of their investments due to the directive by the Bank of Ghana that banks implement the mark-to-market policy on bond investments.

Speaking on JoyNews’ PM Express, he stated that it is unfair for banks to be implementing the mark-to-market policy on investments when they have not pre-informed investors of any possibility of such a situation occurring.

“We have what we call treating customers fairly. These are principles in investment and in banking. When a person comes to buy a product, a bank product or investment, you’ve got to tell him specifically this condition how it prevails, except in only this part of the world. In UK, when you buy the bond they will tell you that if the price goes down this is what you’re going to have.

“But you see if you don’t treat the investor or the customer fairly and then when he comes to redeem you want to apply it, you’re not being fair to the customer because if you had told him initially the investor would have a choice to buy or not to buy. So my only question is that if you are applying the marked market were they informed before the sales?

“If they were not informed then you’re not treating them fairly. If you go to any jurisdiction, maybe apart from Ghana, you’re not going to have it easy because they have been tricked into it. They have not been told the nuances of what will be the position,” he said.

He mentioned that some investors have threatened to sue their banks for their losses.

“I am currently dealing with about three cases of this and some are threatening to go to court to defend their position.”