Court dismisses BoG application against uniCredit suit

The vacation court in Accra has dismissed an application by lawyers of the Bank of Ghana (BoG) asking the court to struck out uniCredit case challenging the Central Bank’s letter revoking its operational license.

UniCredit after the Central Bank revoked it license filed an application for judicial review in the nature of Certiorari.

They were asking the court to quash the decision of the Central Bank which revoked its license.

But before that case could be heard, the BoG through its lawyers, filed an application asking the court to struck it out.

The BoG argued that the applicant (UniCredit) per it case did not properly invoke the jurisdiction of the court.

It contended that the grievances of UniCredit was to have started at arbitration and not the court.

But the Commercial Division of the Accra High Court presided over by Justice George Koomson in its ruling said the applicant (UniCredit ) has properly invoked the jurisdiction of the court.

A cost of GHc3000 was subsequently slapped against BoG.

Background

The mother company of Unicredit Savings and Loans Company – Hoda Holdings Limited in August 2019 sued Dr Ernest Addison and the Bank of Ghana for revoking the license of the company.

In the company’s affidavit filed at the Human Rights Division of the High Court on Monday, Hoda Holdings said its funds of over GHS 54 million were locked up with Unibank before it was forced to cease operations by the central bank in 2018 and it has since been trying to retrieve it.