Hold Annual General Meetings virtually to meet BoG’s requirement – Banking expert

Banking Expert, Nana Otuo Acheampong has recommended that commercial banks hold their Annual General Meetings (AGM’s) virtually, to satisfy the Bank of Ghana’s (BoG) requirement.

This follows many commercial banks serving notice that their AGMs have been put on hold as a way of responding to the risks associated with the Coronavirus outbreak in Ghana.

The banking expert, speaking in an interview said; “The ban on public gathering which has been given under the certificate of urgency is like when you are in a war and everything stops and gets substituted. That is why they have to go and implement the Imposition of Restriction Act passed by Parliament. So, once the law is in place, then everything else is on hold and therefore it will include holding Annual General Meetings”

“No institution can hold an Annual General Meeting unless they are doing it electronically. Nobody can hold an AGM with a 1,000 or so shareholders. It’s all under the Imposition of Restriction Act,” Nana Otuo Acheampong added.

Meanwhile, banks in the country, per the Banking Act are required to publish their financial statements of account along with holding Annual General Meetings with their shareholders annually.

But with the imposition of a ban on social gathering by the state, banks are now faced with the challenge of how to meet their shareholders due to social distancing directives.

Following the outbreak of the Coronavirus pandemic In Ghana, several businesses and organisations have been badly hit financially with some having been forced to fold and lay off some of their staff.