Parliament to Investigate Collapse of 7 Banks Today

The Finance Committee of Parliament is set to open a full probe into the circumstances leading to the collapse of seven indigenous banks since 2017 today September 5, 2018, the hearing is seek to be done in-camera.

Ranking Member on the committee, Cassiel Ato Forson said in an interview two months back, adding that the modalities of the probe will be made available to the public in due time

The 25-member Finance Committee according to reports is expected to focus on the role the Bank of Ghana played in the collapse of the banks, and determine the extent of culpability of central bank officials.

The 25-member Finance Committee will also invite the officials of the Finance Ministry, managers of the banks, KPMG, Price water house Coopers, Boulders among others for questioning.

There have been calls for the Finance Committee of Parliament to hold the sitting in Public but the committee has explained that considering the sensitivity of the matter the committee will sit in-camera.

Chairman of the Finance Committee, Dr Mark Assibey Yeboah, in an interview with Class FM said “We’re meeting the Bank of Ghana from 9 am until 1 pm on Wednesday and then in the afternoon we’ll meet with the Ministry of Finance”.

He said on Thursday, the committee will meet first with PricewaterhouseCoopers and then with KPMG and then the new Consolidated Bank officials.

On Friday, the committee will meet other regulators like the Security and Exchanges Commission and the National Insurance Commission.

Dr Assibey noted that: “We have to get firsthand information, we cannot rely on media commentaries to make informed opinions, so, we’re meeting with the institutions.”

Meanwhile, ahead of the sitting, two Ghanaians petitioned the Speaker of Parliament, Prof. Mike Ocquaye, to allow for a public hearing of the legislature’s probe into the crisis.

The two, Nana Adofo Ofori and Anthony Mifetoo, argued that the decision by the finance committee to hold the hearings in-camera is counter productive.

Capital Bank and UT Bank collapsed in August 2017 which their assets and liabilities were taken over by state-owned GCB Bank.

A year later, five other domestic banks, Sovereign Bank, Construction Bank, uniBank, The Royal Bank, and BEIGE Bank have been merged to form The Consolidated Bank Ghana.

These banks have all gone down due to liquidity challenges, the central bank noted

Some Ghanaians and expects in the banking sector have however called sanctions for persons whose actions caused the collapse of the banks.

The government has issued about GHc8 billion in bonds to defray the debt left behind at the expense of Ghanaians.