Management of Black Star has denied reports that the company has caused some $5 million financial loss to the state through the Minerals Income Investment Fund (MIIF)’s investment in Asante Gold. 

The company said it was never engaged as advisors for the said investment. 

In a press statement issued on Wednesday, August 24, it said the report forms part of an “orchestrated scheme to push false and misleading narratives about our company.”

It thus asked the public to ignore the claims completely. 

“This is patently false and deliberately misleading. Black Star was never engaged by MIIF, as falsely alleged, to advise it on any private placement to do with the shares of Asante Gold Corporation.”

Management also added that it will take the necessary steps to remedy any damages caused. 

“Black Star treats all allegations against it seriously and will review all internal processes and take appropriate action where necessary to safeguard all its stakeholders.”

“Lastly, the management of the Black Star would also like to reassure all stakeholders that they have always adhered to all regulatory requirements and have executed their mandate to the highest standards of practice in the finance markets,” the statement added. 

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Finance has dismissed social media reports that Databank and Black Star Brokerage – linked to Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta and the Minister of State at the Finance Ministry, Charles Adu Boahen were handpicked by the Finance Ministry and the Bank of Ghana to act as Bond Market Specialists for government bond issuance, hence benefiting from those transactions.

In a statement, the Ministry said, it is incorrect the claim that these two firms have been appointed as advisors to the Ministry of Finance (MoF).

“The selection of the Primary Dealers [PDs] and Bond Market Specialists [BMSs] is an automatic process based on market performance and historical secondary market trading activity which is publicly available and cannot be manipulated by the Ministry of Finance [MoF] or the Bank of Ghana [BoG]”.

“Since 1996, the Ministry of Finance with the Bank of Ghana has developed and implemented various policies which affect the issuance and trading of Government of Ghana debt securities (Treasuries and Bonds). The ultimate objectives of these policies are to develop an efficient fixed income market, strengthen the capacity of local institutions and deepen financial intermediation”, it added.

Furthermore, it pointed out that Databank and Black Star Brokerage are two out of nine firms that have been selected by BoG/MoF as Bond Market Specialists and not Advisors to MoF, adding that “the other firms selected to be BMSs are – Ecobank, Stanbic Bank, ABSA, Cal Bank, GCB Bank, Fidelity Bank, and IC Securities. As stated above, the selection of the firms was solely based on their historical performance on the Bond Market and no other consideration”.