The Court of Appeal on Thursday ruled that the Bank of Ghana restore the licence of GN Savings and Loans, the financial institution owned by businessman and politician, Dr. Papa Kwesi Nduom.
The decision by the second apex court was unanimous, as a panel of three justices noted that the revocation of the licence was unfair and unreasonable.
The court ordered that the receiver should also hand over possession, management, and control of the assets and other activities to the shareholders of the company.
Background
On January 4, 2019, GN Bank Limited was reclassified as a savings and loans institution and subsequently renamed GN Savings and Loans Company Limited.
However, on August 16, 2019, the Bank of Ghana (BoG), revoked the operating licence of GN Savings and Loans Company Limited and appointed Eric Nana Nipah as Receiver. This happened under the banking sector clean-up exercise, where more than a dozen local banks and smaller financial institutions were closed down for several irregularities.
The Groupe Nduom, the parent company of GN Savings and Loans Company Limited, challenged the revocation of its licence at the High Court that same month.
In January 2024, the High Court ruled in favour of the Bank of Ghana, maintaining that governance deficiencies had rendered GN Savings and Loans incapable of meeting its debt obligations, and therefore the company failed to prove it was solvent at the time its licence was revoked.
The Group Nduom then re-challenged the High Court ruling at the Court of Appeal, and thus the ruling today.