Chartered Banker and Accountant Nana Obiri Yeboah has advised the owners of GN Savings and Loans Company to adopt a new corporate structure and fresh operational measures following the Court of Appeal’s order directing the Bank of Ghana to restore its operating licence.
The financial expert argued that the owners will face a Herculean task in reviving operations after being out of business for seven years.
Speaking on ‘As it is in Ghana’ on Rainbow Radio 87.5FM (Ghana) and 92.4FM (UK), he warned that returning to the market under the same name would cause the institution to suffer. He emphasised that the firm must take immediate steps to restructure.
“To be honest with you, GN Savings and Loans coming back into the public arena with the same name, they are going to suffer. If they should consult me, the best advice I will give them is that they must sell off or transfer to completely independent managers altogether.”
Questioning whether the public is ready to trust and transact business with the institution again, he noted that the company will face an uphill battle to survive.
“So if they want to bounce back, I think there should be a complete change of everything. The name GN must change. They can come back as an SME Savings and Loans. Then their colours, branding, what they stood for, and ownership must change. Research has shown that financial institutions across the globe have faced difficulties in bouncing back.”
Beyond the immediate future of the financial institution, Nana Obiri Yeboah warned that the ruling creates significant challenges for the Bank of Ghana as a regulator, potentially opening the floodgates for further legal tussles.
“The outcome of the court’s decision challenges the legal foundation on which the central bank revoked the licence of GN or engaged in the banking sector clean-up. It can open the doors for additional lawsuits against the BoG. The most challenging aspect is that the case has damaged the regulatory credibility of the BoG. It renders their reasons for the revocation as unfair, as the court stated.”
He also advised the central bank against appealing the Court of Appeal’s ruling, suggesting instead that both GN Savings and Loans and the Bank of Ghana find common ground on the best way forward.
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
