Mr Ouzzani said at a media encounter that all operating banks are in good standing after the banking sector clean-up.
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Banks in Ghana now stronger than before according to Societe Generale MD
The Managing Director of Société Générale Bank, Ghana, Hakim Ouzzani, has said that Ghana’s banking sector is stronger now than before after the major financial sector clean-up by the Bank of Ghana.
Managing Director of Société Générale Bank, Ghana, Hakim Ouzzani
“The Ghana banking sector went through some troubles, but the government and the central bank have really cleaned the banking sector.”
“With the capital increase that they have introduced, actually all the banks that are still operating we know that they are respectful of all the norms and regulations which have been introduced to make the banks strong. So, the existing 23 banks are stronger than the 35 that existed before,” he added.
He, however, advised Ghanaians to choose wisely where to save or invest their monies following the clean-up.
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The BoG revoked the licenses of nine commercial banks, 23 insolvent savings and loans companies and finance houses, and the 347 microfinance firms that were also declared insolvent.
The Ghanaian government has indicated that the cleanup was necessary since the collapsed indigenous banks were facing challenges that threatened the overall health of the banking sector.
They explained that the banks had engaged in acts that could be considered fraudulent. Others also procured their licenses under fraudulent means coupled with poor corporate governance practices.
This threatened more than 4.6 million of depositors with several jobs on the line.
The cleanup protected the deposits of about 5 million depositors, while jobs were protected due to the creation of the Consolidated Bank to merge seven of the nine banks.
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