An Accra High Court has adjourned the lawsuit involving the shareholders of defunct uniCredit savings and loans company limited and the Bank of Ghana over the revocation of the license of the company.
The court subsequently adjourned the case to 19th September 2019.
The adjournment of the case was as a result of the inability of the Bank of Ghana to serve lawyers of uniCredit with a motion they filed relating to the case.
The Presiding Judge, Justice George Kingsley Koomson requested that both parties serve each other with all the processes in other to expedite the hearing.
The shareholders of uniCredit, Hoda Holdings and CDH sued the Bank of Ghana and its governor, Dr. Ernest Addison after the central bank revoked the license of the company.
The shareholders of uniCredit want the court to quash the Bank of Ghana’s revocation of their license which declared uniCredit as insolvent, thus compelling the company to cease operations.
Background
Hoda Holdings Limited, the mother company of uniCredit Savings and Loans Company on the 18th of August sued the Bank of Ghana and its governor Dr. Ernest Addison over the revocation of the company’s license.
The case was filed at the Human Rights Division of the High Court.
The plaintiff wants the court to quash the Bank of Ghana’s revocation of uniCredit’s license and declaring it insolvent, by effect causing the institution to cease operation.
“An order of interlocutory injunction restraining the respondents, their agents, assigns, privies hirelings or otherwise howsoever described from interfering with the operations of Unicredit Ghana Limited and to refer to the subject matter of the Instant Application to Arbitration,” an excerpt of their writ read.
In announcing the revocation of the license of uniCredit last month, the Bank of Ghana said the savings and loans company’s adjusted net worth was negative GH¢221.32 million as of the end of May 2019 and revealed that its paid-up capital was impaired in violation of Section 28(1) Act 930.
The BoG report also said uniCredit’s adjusted capital adequacy ratio of negative 97.83% as of the end of May 2019 was in violation of Section 29(2) of Act 930.
“This was mainly due to the non-performing related party exposures of GH¢160.10 million to uniSecurities which is far in excess of its negative net worth.”
“The institution has been breaching the statutory cash reserve ratio requirement since April 2018 while also it was unable to meet the deposit withdrawals of customers due to its severe liquidity challenges. The BoG received many complaints from the institution’s customers about their inability to access their funds. And the institution had a high percentage of non-performing loans,” BoG’s report remarked.
But in its affidavit, challenging the Central Bank’s decision in court, Hoda Holdings, said its funds of over GHS 54 million were locked up with Unibank before it was forced to cease operations by the Bank of Ghana in 2018 and it has since been trying to retrieve it.
