Access Bank In Tango With BoG

The Access Bank Ghana Limited is said to be suffering a Bank of Ghana (BoG) sanction over the illegal money transfer activities of its staff.

Ironically, Access Bank management is reported to have alerted the Central Bank about the illegal transactions.

Access Bank has notices in its banking halls warning staff to desist from such transactions.

Access Bank expressed its unhappiness with the BoG’s decision to impose a six-month sanction for what it called “a number of irregularities in the conduct of foreign exchange transfers by Access Bank Ghana Limited.”

Some of the bank’s customers and workers are of the view that if the Central Bank’s supervision department had been active it would have realised that management of Access Bank reported the matter.

According to sources, the new leadership of Access Bank, upon assumption of office, reportedly detected the irregularity and informed BoG for advice, only to be slapped with the sanction.

The action, according to the bank’s source, amounted to a breach of trust on the part of BoG since officials of Access Bank acted in good faith.

The best to have come from the Central Bank, they said, should have been to advise them on previous transactions and allow time to correct the mistakes.

The staff are said to have been affected by the decision of the Central Bank.

They appealed to the BoG to enforce its supervisory role otherwise the confidence in banking business in the country would erode.

The staff welcomed an investigation into the issue, especially when the bank had taken steps to punish some of the workers who allegedly took part in the illegal transfers.

They said they do not want to believe that the Central Bank’s action is aimed at collapsing Access Bank, an action, they said, could worsen the unemployment situation.