ken Ofori-Atta, Finance Minister The Government has announced a special programme to rescue five indigenous commercial banks that failed to reach the BoG’s minimum capital requirement of GH¢400 million.
The Finance Ministry in a statement issued today said a new entity called: the Ghana Amalgamated Trust (GAT) will support solvent and well-run indigenous banks, which were otherwise having difficulties meeting the new minimum capital requirement deadline, to meet their obligations.
The beneficiaries of the GAT programme are Agricultural Development Bank (ADB), National Investment Bank (NIB), OmniBank Ghana Limited / Bank Sahel Sahara Ghana (OmniBank / BSIC), Universal Merchant Bank (UMB) and Prudential Bank.
According to the statement, the President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, concerned about the difficulties such well-run, solvent Ghanaian-owned banks were likely to face in raising capital on their own, set up a committee to explore various options available for these banks in order to retain and strengthen local interest in the banking sector.
“Based on the Committee’s recommendation, an Advisor was appointed to facilitate the setting up of an SPV: the Ghana Amalgamated Trust (GAT), with the objective of raising funds from the private sector, mainly Pension Funds, to support eligible indigenous banks that successfully completed the due diligence process,” the statement said.
“Qualifying banks for GAT investment have been determined on the basis of their solvency, local ownership, minimum pre-investment capitalization of GHS120 million and an independent valuation by PwC”.
“GAT has committed funds from pension funds and other investors, through a bond programme, with proceeds of up to GHS2.0 billion to be used for equity investment in the eligible indigenous banks, as determined by the investors. The bonds issued to the Pension Funds will be listed on the Ghana Fixed Income Market (GFIM) for liquidity purposes”.
The statement also disclosed that government’s commitment to the initiative is to protect jobs, local enterprises, enhance the capacity of local banks and ensure strategic Ghanaian interests in the banking sector.
Read the full statement from the Finance Ministry below;
SUPPORT FOR SOLVENT INDIGENOUS BANKS TO MEET NEW MINIMUM CAPITAL REQUIREMENT
Accra, Saturday, 5th January 2019Government has worked with an Advisor and selected Pension Funds to structure a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV): the Ghana Amalgamated Trust (GAT) to support solvent and well-run indigenous banks, which were otherwise having difficulties meeting the new minimum capital requirement deadline, to meet their obligations.2. The President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, concerned about the difficulties […]