The Bank of Ghana has dined it has been directed to halt the takeover of Merchant Bank by First Rand of South Africa. A source close to the regulator however tells JOYBUSINESS it is currently reviewing the application of Merchant Bank, which it formally received last week. There have been recent media reports which sought to suggest that the deal has been stopped. But JOYBUSINESS has gathered this is not the case as meetings are currently on-going with the bank about the acquisition. The BOG sources also said the request may not suffer any challenges since FirstRand is a reputable financial institution and none of Merchant Bank’s shareholders for now have raised any objections to the acquisition. Merchant Bank in August announced that it has accepted an offer from South Africa’s second biggest finance group, FirstRand to acquire 75 percent stake in the bank for GHC176.4 million.