We chose savings and loans over selling off – GN bank

Management of GN Bank has explained that they chose to become a savings and loans company instead of selling the bank off to a foreign entity in the bank clean up exercise being undertaken by the Central Bank.

It comes after the bank of Ghana downgraded the bank into a savings and loans company after it failed to meet the new GHC400 million minimum capital requirement.

In a statement after the action was taken by the Bank of Ghana, GN bank said it chose to accept the downgrade because they have considerable experience in that sector since they operated there for long before transitioning into a universal bank.

“The Shareholders, Directors and Management of GN Bank wish to inform our cherished customers and the general public that we have elected to continue our operations as a Savings & Loan Institution.

“This means that our doors will remain open for business as usual in January, 2019 and beyond. We have started the transition process. Our immediate objective is to find the liquidity needed to service the needs of our customers. This means that as a licensed deposit taking institution, customer funds remain safe with us. The decision allows us to concentrate on ensuring maximum liquidity to sustain the business, instead of raising funds for additional capital as a universal bank,” the statement said.

Meanwhile, the universal banking licenses of Heritage and Premium banks have been withdrawn by the Central bank and have been merged with the Consolidated bank of Ghana (CBG) by the banking regulator Bank of Ghana.

According to the Central Bank, 23 banks were able to recapitalize after the December 31 deadline. Out of the number there were three mergers; they are Energy Bank and First Atlantic, OmniBank and Sahel Sahara, FNB and Ghana Home Loans Bank.

The Governor of the Central Bank Ernest Addison also announced at a news conference currently ongoing in Accra that some 5 banks are going to benefit from a GHC2 billion bailout from Ghana Amalgamated limited. These banks are Universal Merchant Bank, Abd, NIB, Prudential and the Merged OmniBank and Sahel Sahara Bank.