Rural and community Banks introduced to a new reporting system

Assin Manso [C / R] Oct.24 , GNA- The ARB Apex Bank has introduced Rural /Community Banks to a new reporting standard known as Internal Financial Reporting standards [ IFRS] and a banking survival strategy called Base 11 Accord.

The IFRS is a set of international accounting standards stipulating how particular types of transactions and events should be reported in financial statements, whilst Base 11 Accord is to create an internal standard that banking regulators can use when formulating regulations about how much capital banks need to set aside to guard against financial and operational risks the face . Mr Samuel Twumasi Ankrah, Manager , Efficiency Monitaring Unit [EMU] Internal Control, ARB Apex Bank, announced this in a speech read on behalf of Mr. Eric Osei Bonsu, Managing Director of the bank at the 17th Annual General Meeting of the Assinman Rural Bank at Assin Manso at the weekend.

Mr. Osei Bonsu said the new system had been adopted by bigger commercial banks and that the Apex Bank adopted the system because it would be of benefits to the rural banks. For example, he said, the Base 11 Accord would help avoid the possibility of collapse of banks in that, there would be a setting of rigorous risk and capital management requirements designed to ensure that a bank held capital reserves appropriate to the risk it exposed itself to through its lending and investment practices.

Mr Osei-Bonsu urged Rural and Community Banks to strengthen their internal controls to ensure that operations were carried out in an orderly manner, consistent with best practices in the banking industry.

The ARB Apex General Manager, advised Rural and Community Banks to improve on their services to their customers and pointed out that the bigger banks were luring customers of the smaller banks through better quality services. . He urged them to strengthen their marketing departments to ensure revenue growth, customer satisfaction and financial sustainability because marketing is a core component of the forces that drove business and profit.

Mr. Osei-Bonsu announced that the Assinman Rural Bank was rated 63rd out of 127 Rural and Community Banks assessed by the EMU as at the end of the second quarter of the year. There are 134 Rural and Community Banks in the country. Mr Isaac Arkhurst Yamoah, Administrator of the Central Regional Chapter of the Association of Rural Banks, urged directors and management of the banks to take precautionary measures to protect their banks from fraudsters.

He said within the past two months two rural banks in the region had lost GHC 23,000 andGHC63,000 respectively through fraud. Mr Frank Owusu, Chairman of the Board of Directors, said the bank made a net profit of GHC87,111.06 in 2008 as against GHC 78,695.84 in 2007.

He said the bank posted a total income of GHC471,306.04 in the year under review as compared to GHC400,699.36 the previous year as total assets rose to GHC 2,950,.416.62 from GHC 2,598,596.74 in 2007. The Board Chairman announced that the bank had mobilised GHC176,158.00 as its capital to meet Bank of Ghana s requirements to rural/community banks to raise at least GHC150,000.00 as share capital.

He said the bank had invested GHC374,690.00 in Treasury Bills as against GHC312,100.OO in 2007.

Mr. Owusu announced plans to construct permanent offices for the bank at Assin Manso and AJUMAKO.

Mr. Kofi Mintah, the first chairman of the Board of Directors appealed to the citizens of the area to help the bank to grow to in order to help the community and the district. He urged shareholders to desist from backbiting and rumour mongering which he described as destructive instruments against development. 25 Oct. 09