Head of Micro-finance and Banking Supervision at the Bank of Ghana (BoG), Dr. Yaw Gyima-Larbi has revealed that 171 financial institutions have been issued with final license to legally operate in the country. According to him, the financial institutions are made up of 143 Micro-finance Companies, 25 money lending institutions and 3 Financial NGOs. He added that, the above mentioned categories of financial institutions were dispersed across the country, but the Bank of Ghana(BoG)is still processing applications with the view of giving legal backing to genuine applicants so they can carry out their operations. Dr. Yaw Gyima-Larbi made the disclosure at a Banquet to climax the 5th Anniversary Celebration of P-MAG Investments in Koforidua. He warned Ghanaians, especially market women, to deal with only licensed and accredited Microfinance institutions in order not to be defrauded. According to him, about 116 cases of financial malpractices and defrauding are pending on his desk for investigations hence people must be aware of the companies they deal with. He commended P-MAG Investments, one of the financial institutions to be issued an operating license, for the high ethical standards they have exhibited over the past five years and urged other Micro-finance institutions to emulate same. The Chief Executive Officer of P-MAG Investments, Mr. Philip Gborku, noted that as the first non-deposit micro-finance company to be licensed in the Eastern Region and eleventh in the country, they have to endeavour to give the best of services to their clients in their catchment area. He said P-MAG is still progressing in integrity and has come up with several products to suit contemporary businesses.