I lost my investment too – SEC Boss

Director General of Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC), Rev. Dr. Daniel Ogbarmey-Tetteh, has revealed that he is also a victim of a failed investment.

Failing to mention the name of the investment firm, the former vice president of Databank told Francis Abban on the Morning Starr Monday that he lost his money shortly after investing in the policy.

“I wouldn’t want to mention the organization but I put some money in some company and after a week or so it fell flat. I just have to lick my wounds and move on,” he said.

Dr. Ogbarmey-Tetteh urged Ghanaians to do strict background checks of investment firms before they sign up with them.

“When there is a big juicy package from an agency then there is a higher risk so our commission was to inform and create awareness that was why we issued several notice to the public. One should be interested in the corporate governance of the organization, interested whether it’s been licensed or not and details underlying their operation. Regulated business should play along some rules and regulation and that one has to familiarize itself with these rules on our website or approach SEC if you are in doubt or send us email as some people has done.

“If you need economic development, you need patient capital and you can only get that in the security industry. If an agency promises you higher returns but low risk, look for the exit doors,” Dr. Ogbarmey-Tetteh advised.

He also stated that SEC will, in the coming days, issue a statement on the growing cases of cryptocurrency in Ghana.

“One of these days, SEC will issue a notice on cryptocurrency. The laws of the country do not recognize cryptocurrency as currency or not. Globally, there are no rules regularizing cryptocurrency. We want to assure the investors that regulation is being setup by the commission to ensure the players in the industries are doing the right thing.”

Commenting on Menzgold, the SEC boss said claims that they caused the collapse of the popular gold trading firm are untrue.

“I don’t think SEC is responsible for the collapse of Menzgold. There was something fundamentally flawed in the business model and so it was bound to happen,” he pointed out.