The Receiver of the 347 microfinance companies (MFCs) whose licence have been revoked by the Bank of Ghana (BoG) has so far paid GH₵21.7 million to approximately 33,000 depositors.
GH₵480m claims by 66,000 depositors
This is out of GH₵480 million validated and agreed claims by 66,000 depositors as at July 19, 2019.
GH₵937m claimed by 140,000 depositors
The Receiver has received claims from approximately 140,000 depositors, amounting to approximately GH₵937 million from the inception of the receivership.
BoG gave Receiver GH₵835m from over one million depositors
Per data available to the Receiver from Bank of Ghana (BoG), there are more than one million depositors with a value of approximately GH₵835m.
Validation of depositor claims continues
The Receiver, from PricewaterhouseCoopers (Ghana) Limited, Mr Eric Nana Nipah, told The Finder that validation of depositor claims is still ongoing, saying initial indication is that majority of deposits are very low value amounts.
2,300 Personnel deployed by Receiver
According to him, on the day of the announcement of the revocation of the operating licences of 347 MFCs, he deployed over 2,300 personnel, including PwC staff and some ex-employees of UT Bank, Capital Bank, Heritage Bank and Premium Bank, across all branches of the 347 MFCs to assist him with the takeover and orderly winding up of the receivership.
In addition, he said, he also engaged the services of some former employees of the affected MFCs who are willing to co-operate with him to achieve his objectives.
Breakdown of staff deployed
The breakdown is PwC personnel – 72, retained staff from affected Microfinance – 1,634, and associates (including ex-staff of Capital Bank, UT Bank, Heritage Bank and Premium Bank (all in receivership) – 609.
Identified and taken control of some assets
Mr Nipah told The Finder that he has identified and taken control of some assets of the affected MFCs, including motor vehicles, computers/laptops and furniture.
Professional valuer to assessvalue of all these assets
“The Receiver will engage a professional valuer to assess the market and forced sale values of all these assets in a bid to maximise their realisations for the benefit of creditors,” he stated.
Banks freeze all accounts and investments of MFCs
He announced that he, with the assistance of BoG, has requested all banks across the country to freeze all accounts and investments held by the affected MFCs and not to honor any withdrawals on these accounts without the express approval of the Receiver.
Some MFCs did not include certain deposits in their books
He disclosed that preliminary reviews conducted indicate that some MFCs did not include certain deposits in their books (off balance sheet deposits).
Situational assessment underway
Mr Nipah said a situational assessment on all the 347 MFCs is being conducted to understand why such funds were not accounted for by these MFCs and where those funds are, adding that further details would be made available when the picture is clearer.
Consolidated Bank paying depositors
The Receiver has engaged the services of Consolidated Bank Ghana Limited (CBG) to assist with payments to depositors whose claims have been validated and accepted.
He stated that each depositor would be assigned to a specific CBG branch based on the proximity of the depositor’s MFC branch and the nearest CBG branch.
“To make the payment process easier and faster, the Receiver, together with CBG, [sic] have adopted various payment techniques including mobile money and over the counter payments.
“The depositors can also open bank accounts with their respective CBG branch to deposit their monies in,” he added.
Key obligation of Receiver
A key obligation of the Receiver is to ensure that only legitimate deposits are received, validated and, when funds are available, paid.
This requires diligence on the part of the Receiver to avoid mistakes and to prevent the potential for fraud.
Therefore, Mr Nipah has requested all depositors to pick up Proof of Debt (‘PoD’) forms at the branches of all MFCs and to return completed sections of the PoD forms, and once they have been returned by the depositors, the validation process would commence, leading to the acceptance or rejection, either in part or whole of the depositor’s claims.
Mr Nipah promised to make this process as smooth and transparent as possible.
According to him, a key component of his mandate is to secure all assets of the MFCs and maximise their realisations (sale) for the benefit of creditors, including depositors.
Therefore, he said, claims submitted by creditors/depositors would be validated for their legitimacy and accuracy, and claims would be admitted or rejected in either part or whole.
Section 135 of Act 930 lists all creditors and how these should be ranked by way of payments.
The first step, he said, was to secure these assets, take inventory and establish their respective locations, conditions and values.
“This will be followed by a process of realisation or sale, after which the Receiver will establish whether enough funds are available to prosecute the receivership process and pay creditors.
“The Receiver will then declare dividend payable to creditors based on their ranking as stated above and depending on the amount of money realised from the sale of the assets of the institution,” he added.
The Bank of Ghana (‘BoG’) on May 31, 2019, per section 123 of the Bank and Specialised Deposit Taking Institutions Act, 2016 (Act 930), revoked the licences of 347 microfinance companies (‘MFCs’) who were insolvent.
Of the 347 MFCs, 155 had ceased operations prior to the revocation announcement.
The BoG, per section 123 (2) of Act 930, appointed Mr Eric Nana Nipah, a director of PricewaterhouseCoopers (Ghana) Limited, as the Receiver to oversee the orderly winding up of these MFCs.
The objectives and duties of Receiver are clearly spelt out in sections 123 and 127 of Act 930.
On May31, 2019 and following the announcement by BoG, the Receiver deployed more than 2,000 personnel across the country to take possession of these institutions.
The Receiver also had 167 staff from BoG and both police and private security to assist him with his work.
Narrating what has been done so far, Mr Nipah explained that he took control of offices that were operating on that day by notifying the management and staff of the announcement, displaying the notices and the Deed of Appointment of the Receiver at vantage sections of the office and taking custody of the books and records of these institutions.
For MFCs that had ceased operations or were closed at the time of the announcement, Mr Nipah said he, with the support of BoG and Ghana Police, has engaged their shareholders and directors to facilitate access to their premises and taking of inventory, and significant progress has been made in this regard.
He further took inventory of all assets available at the time of the announcement, including motor vehicles and chattels owned by the MFCs.
He said with the assistance of personnel from the Ghana Police and two private security companies, they ensured there was no threats to life and property.
Source: The Finder
