Business News of Wednesday, 26 July 2017
Source: citibusinessnews.com
2017-07-26
Mr. Ray Sowah MD of GCB(L) and Mr. John Kweku Asamoah, Acting MD, NIB
The Bank of Ghana has told Citi Business News it is unaware of any proposed deal for GCB to acquire the National Investment Bank (NIB).
Some recent media reports suggested that the GCB Bank Limited has begun overtures to take over the National Investment Bank in an attempt to grow the asset portfolio of the bank to about 10 billion cedis.
The move was also expected to increase GCB’s staff to over 2,000 while it branches increases to 250, if successful.
But speaking to Citi Business News on the matter, the Head of Banking Supervision at the Bank of Ghana, Mr. Raymond Amanfu debunked the claims that no such proposal has been tabled before the central bank.
“As I sit, I don’t know of any proposed merger. None of the banks has even put forward to me a proposal for merger. The point is that GCB is listed. I have called the MD of NIB; I have spoken to the MD of GCB. They said that they have not spoken to anybody about merger or acquisition. So I don’t know where the person got the story from,” he said.
Mr. Amanfu explained that the laws are clear on acquisitions and mergers in the banking industry.
He pointed out for instance that GCB is listed on the Ghana Stock Exchange, hence would have to go to its shareholders first if it is considering acquisition or merger.
He insisted that recent reports of mergers among some banks in the country are false, since no such proposal has reached the Bank of Ghana.
