The Governor of the Bank of Ghana (BOG), Dr. Ernest Addison has asked the judicial service to establish special courts to deal with the adjudication of financial cases associated with the financial sector reforms undertaken by the Central Bank.
According to the governor, the slow pace at which the judicial service handles financial cases is partly to blame for the high rate of non-performing loans in the country.
As of December 2018 non-performing loans stood at 18 percent which is above the international rate of 5 percent.
Speaking at the 4th Edition of the Ghana CEO Summit, Dr Ernest Addison said all the efforts to sanitize the financial sector will yield no result if the judicial service fails to swiftly deal with financial cases.
“The role of the judiciary cannot be ignored by bringing efficient adjudication of commercial cases. We will be able to address some of the cost structural issues concerning non-performing loans. I will recommend the possibility of designating special courts and judges to adjudicate matters relating to the specific issues arising out of the bank resolutions; revocation of license as well as cases in relation to collateral closure.”
“Without an efficient judiciary system that is fair to deal with cases in a swift and decisive manner, all the work done in sanitizing banking system will not yield the desired results. It is my expectation that as we move on, the narrative towards ensuring that the Judiciary stands up to the task to support the entire process”,
BoG reforms
In August 2017, the Bank of Ghana (BoG) gave GCB Bank Ltd the green light to acquire two local banks UT and Capital bank due to severe impairment of their capital
In August 2018, the Bank of Ghana consolidated five other local banks into what it calls the Consolidated Bank Ghana limited.
The banks were Beige, Construction, Royal, uniBank and Sovereign Banks. Beyond have liquidity challenges, some of them were engaged in activities that the Bank of Ghana considered criminal.
The bank of Ghana in a statement on January 4, 2019, following the expiration of the minimum capital requirement deadline, said, all the 23 remaining banks have met the new minimum paid-up capital of GHC400 million.
The Bank of Ghana further explained that it had revoked the licenses of Premium Bank and Heritage Bank and approved their takeover by Consolidated Bank Ghana Limited.
It said in the case of Heritage Bank; the institution had questionable sources of capital.
Meanwhile, GN Bank has been downgraded into a savings and loans company following its inability to meet the minimum capital requirement.
