Appointed Receiver for the financial institutions whose licences were recently revoked last week estimates he will finish his assessment in 10 days.

The central bank on Friday, May 31, 2019, revoked the licences of 386 insolvent microfinance and microcredit companies appointing Eric Nana Nipah, a Director of PricewaterhouseCoopers (Ghana) Limited (“PwC”) as Receiver.

He is to supervise the winding down the affairs of microfinance companies whose licences were revoked.

This includes 192 microfinance companies having their licenses revoked with another 155 insolvent companies that have ceased operations also suffering the same fate.

The central bank also revoked the licences of 29 insolvent microcredit companies.

The BoG explained that regarding the microfinance companies, it took the action pursuant to section 123 (1) of the Banks and Specialised Deposit-Taking Institutions Act, 2016 (Act 930). 

The main duties of the Receiver for the microfinance and microcredits are:
(i) To recover and maximise asset realisations for the benefit of Creditors including mainly Depositors and

(ii) Distribute realisations in accordance with the relevant provisions of Act 930, to satisfy the indebtedness of these institutions to their body of Creditors, to the extent possible.

The BoG said in a statement (published in full below) that:

“In order for the Receiver to determine the indebtedness of affected microfinance companies to their body of Creditors as well as the order of ranking of these Creditors for dividend distribution, as appropriate, it is the intention of the Receiver to put in place a Creditor Administration process with the following features:

“(i) Submission of Proof of Debt (“PoD”) forms-Creditors will be required to submit their claims by completing a PoD form to be designed by the Receiver. In filling these forms, Creditors will be required to attach relevant documentation supporting their claim(s) as well as amounts owed to them.

“(ii) Validating and agreeing claims:-the Receiver will independently verify and reconcile the claims submitted by Creditors to the records of the affected microfinance companies, to determine the validity and quantum of claim made by the Creditor.

“(iii) Payments to Depositors-with regard to the depositors of the affected microfinance companies, the Receiver will make payments to this class of Creditors using funds provided by Government for this purpose.

“(iv) Payments to other Creditors -- For the class of other Creditors (excluding depositors), depending on the quantum and timing of asset realisations in the receivership of the affected microfinance companies, the Receiver will declare and pay dividends to this class of Creditors in accordance with the order of ranking of Creditors provided in the relevant sections of Act 930.”

Read the full statement on the appointment of the Receiver below.

NOTICE OF REVOCATION OF LICENCES OF INSOLVENT MICROFINANCE COMPANIES AND APPOINTMENT OF RECEIVER
PRESS RELEASE

The Bank of Ghana (BoG), in accordance with Section 123(2) of Act 930 has appointed Eric Nana Nipah, a Director of PricewaterhouseCoopers (Ghana) Limited (“PwC”) as Receiver for the purposes of winding down the affairs of microfinance companies whose licences were revoked on 31st May 2019.

The main duties of the Receiver are:
(i) to recover and maximise asset realisations for the benefit of Creditors including mainly Depositors and
(ii) distribute realisations in accordance with the relevant provisions of Act 930, to satisfy the indebtedness of these institutions to their body of Creditors, to the extent possible.

In order for the Receiver to determine the indebtedness of affected microfinance companies to their body of Creditors as well as the order of ranking of these Creditors for dividend distribution, as appropriate, it is the intention of the Receiver to put in place a Creditor Administration process with the following features:
(i) Submission of Proof of Debt (“PoD”) forms-Creditors will be required to submit their claims by completing a PoD form to be designed by the Receiver. In filling these forms, Creditors will be required to attach relevant documentation supporting their claim(s) as well as amounts owed to them.
(ii) Validating and agreeing claims:-the Receiver will independently verify and reconcile the claims submitted by Creditors to the records of the affected microfinance companies, to determine the validity and quantum of claim made by the Creditor.
(iii) Payments to Depositors-with regard to the depositors of the affected microfinance companies, the Receiver will make payments to this class of Creditors using funds provided by Government for this purpose.
(iv) Payments to other Creditors -- For the class of other Creditors (excluding depositors), depending on the quantum and timing of asset realisations in the receivership of the affected microfinance companies, the Receiver will declare and pay dividends to this class of Creditors in accordance with the order of ranking of Creditors provided in the relevant sections of Act 930.

Following his appointment, the Receiver has commenced the process of taking control over these affected microfinance companies, as part of the orderly winding up of the operations of these institutions.

It is the intention of the Receiver to conduct an assessment of the state of affairs of these institutions in order to ascertain the types and values of assets and liabilities of these microfinance companies as at the commencement of receivership.

The Receiver estimates that this assessment will be completed within the next 10 days.

Whilst the Situation assessment is on-going, all Creditors including depositors will be requested to submit their completed PoD forms with supporting documentation to the Receiver for validation and agreeing as set out above.

The Receiver estimates that the process of validating and agreeing with Creditor claims will take another 30 days from the date of the deadline for the submission of Creditor claims.

During this period of validation and agreeing claims, depositor claims which have been validated and accepted in the receivership will be paid concurrently at designated Consolidated Bank of Ghana Ltd (CBG) branches, to the extent possible.

Stakeholders may direct all concerns on the receivership of their affected microfinance companies to The Receiver, Eric Nana Nipah, PricewaterhouseCoopers (Ghana) Ltd, 3rd Floor, Una Home, Airport City Accra or on +233 (0) 302 761 500.
SGD
ERIC NANA NIPAH RECEIVER
WITH APPROVAL FROM BANK OF GHANA