Good news for Ghana’s indigenous Consolidated Bank Ghana (CBG) as the Bank of Ghana has restored its forex trading license which was suspended last month over foreign currency trading breaches.
Bank of Ghana says CBG engaged in a number of breaches in their foreign exchange trading operations which were in contravention of the Updated Guidelines for Inward Remittance Service for Payment Service Providers and the Anti-Money Laundering/Combating the Financing of Terrorism & The Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction (AML/CFT & P) Guidelines.
Sources tell The High Street Journal that CBG and other financial institutions were sanctioned for trading forex outside the Bank of Ghana’s approved rate bands.
A statement by the BoG dated November 12, 2024, revealed that CBG’s suspension was to “take effect from 26th November 2024, for a period of one (1) month, in accordance with section 11 (2) of the Foreign Exchange Act 2006 (Act 723).”
But in an interesting turn of events, CBG after the suspension kicked in has been able to put in place effective controls to ensure strict adherence to the satisfaction of the regulator leading to the restoration of the licence ahead of the timelines of the suspension.
“CBG is pleased to announce that the Bank of Ghana has restored our foreign currency trading license. We have fully resumed all foreign currency services at our branches effective that date,” a statement published by CBG confirmed.
The restoration means that customers can now access CBG’s comprehensive foreign exchange services, including buying and selling foreign currencies, at all branches nationwide. The bank further apologized for any inconvenience caused by the suspension and expressed gratitude to its customers for their patience and continued trust.
The restoration comes at a time that positions CBG to benefit from the remittances businesses which peaks at the ending part of the year and during the Christmas festivities.
The suspension nearly took away the opportunity for CBG to benefit from the windfall season for remittances but with the early restoration of the forex trading license, the huge revenue loss has been averted.
CBG is not the first to suffer such a blow from BoG as Fidelity Bank, First National Bank, GT Bank, and FBN Bank Ghana have suffered a similar fate earlier paying various fines and serving suspensions.
While banks suffered huge fines and suspensions, customers of these financial institutions also bore the brunt as their remittances were blocked. In addition, these customers could not perform any foreign exchange transaction with these sanctioned banks leading to heightened frustration and desperation.
Other remittance platforms such as TapTap Send have also suffered a similar fate recently for breaching other portions of the foreign exchange regulations.
These remittance platforms have revolutionized the transfer of remittances in the country. With the advent of these platforms, gone are the days when Ghanaians queued at banks and Western Union points to retrieve their remittances.
However, these remittance platforms have introduced seamless transfer of remittances that allows recipients to receive funds directly into their momo wallets and bank accounts taking away the old stress of joining long queues to retrieve their funds.
