BoG followed due process and law in revoking the licence of Unicredit – Court

In spite of a court ruling that the Bank of Ghana (BoG) followed due process in revoking the licence of Unicredit the Founder of collapsed uniBank Ghana Limited, Dr Kwabena Duffuor has petitioned Parliament to investigate circumstances that led to the collapse of his bank.

HODA Holdings Limited, (HODA) the majority shareholder of Unicredit Ghana Limited (Unicredit) filed a Motion on Notice for Judicial Review, in the nature of certiorari, to quash the Notice of Bank of Ghana dated 15th August 2019 declaring Unicredit insolvent and revoking its licence to operate as a Specialized Deposit taking Institution.

HODA also prayed the Human Rights Court for “an order of injunction directed at the Bank of Ghana, their agents, assigns, privies, and hirelings or otherwise howsoever described from interfering with the operations of Unicredit and to refer the subject matter of the Application to Arbitration”.

On Thursday, 18th March, 2021, the Honourable Court presided over by Justice Gifty Agyei Addo, after examining and evaluating the affidavits, exhibits and the various submissions by counsel for the parties, Frank Davies Esq. for Bank of Ghana and Adu Mante Esq. for HODA, dismissed the entire case of HODA Holdings Limited, as being without merit.

The court in its judgment affirmed the bank resolution powers of the Bank of Ghana under the Banks and Specialised Deposit-Taking Institutions Act, Act 930 and held that the steps taken by the Bank of Ghana in revoking the licence of Unicredit were in accordance with due process and lawful.

In a petition to Parliament, Dr Duffuor is asking Ghana’s law-making body to:

(i): investigate the conduct of the Bank of Ghana in the takeover, the appointment of an Official Administrator of uniBank Ghana Limited and the circumstances surrounding the revocation of the banking license of uniBank Ghana Limited:

(ii): Direct the restoration of the banking license of uniBank Ghana Limited by the Bank of Ghana and the remedying of the harms done the shareholders’ property rights as a result of the conduct of the Bank of Ghana;

(iii) Give any other directives that Parliament may deem appropriate.

A similar petition seeking similar reliefs has also been presented to Parliament by the founder of defunct UT Bank, Prince Kofi Amoabeng.