The Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr. Ernest Addison, has called on the government to take decisive action against shareholders of banks and financial institutions implicated in the financial sector cleanup.
Emphasising the need for accountability, he insisted that these individuals must be held responsible for their actions and inactions.
Dr Addison expressed concern over the government's sluggish response to the issue, calling for more prompt and resolute measures.
During a joint press conference with the Ministry of Finance and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Monday, July 1, 2024, he stated that all those still holding funds intended for the cleanup exercise must be pursued.
According to Dr Addison, "It is taking a really long time to really bring all of these matters to a close. However, it is important that the state needs to persevere and pursue these shareholders who have misappropriated depositors' funds.
"The large amounts of monies that we claim were used to clean up the financial sector, some of these monies are being held in assets by the shareholders and I think that the law needs to be allowed to do its work."
Background
The banking sector clean-up, which began in 2017, saw the revocation of licenses of several banks, savings and loans companies, and microfinance institutions.
The banking sector clean-up initiated by the BoG was a decisive step toward rectifying systemic issues, including insolvency, poor corporate governance, and non-compliance with regulatory requirements.
While the clean-up has been instrumental in stabilising the sector, the pressing need for accountability and prosecution of those implicated in the financial malpractices cannot be overstated.
The intervention led to the establishment of the Consolidated Bank Ghana (CBG) to take over the assets and liabilities of some of the failed banks.
However, prosecutions are ongoing, and the full impact of these actions will be assessed over time as the sector stabilises and regains public trust.
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