BoG Must Clarify Roles of Various Financial Institutions to Public

Some bankers want the Bank of Ghana(BoG) to clarify the role of the various financial institutions in the country as it prepares to introduce a new licensing regime next year.

The Central bank has announced it will be rolling out a new licensing regime from next year, while putting on hold the issuance of new licenses for financial institutions, such as banks, savings and loans companies, and microfinance companies.

Despite having different licenses, for different categories of financial institutions, some industry watchers have stated that, in principle, all of the institutions are taking deposits and giving loans.

Speaking to Citi Business News Banking Consultant Nana Otuo Acheampong, said the Bank of Ghana must introduce a licensing regime that will clearly define the roles of the players in the sector.

“As it stands now the average person on the street finds it hard to differentiate between a universal bank, savings and loans company, finance house, rural bank and a micro-finance institution. This confusion is what will be informing the regulator to see whether they’ll make the current licensing regime clearer for all”

Meanwhile, the Bank of Ghana (BoG) has explained that the decision not to license new banks is aimed at creating space to strictly implement the new capital requirement of 400 million cedis in 2018.