Ghana Central Bank stated that it has suspended foreign exchange licence of two Nigeria’s banks with subsidiary in Ghana, Guaranty Trust Bank Ghana Limited (GTBank) and First Bank of NIGERIA for involvement in fraudulent documentation of foreign excchange transactions.
The one-month suspension by the Central Bank takes effect from March 18, 2024, and is in accordance with Section 11 (2) of the Foreign Exchange Act 2006, (Act 723).
A statement from the Central Bank said the suspension was as a result of various breaches of the foreign exchange market regulations, including fraudulent documentation.
The statement indicated that the licence of the two banks would be restored at the end of the one-month suspension, once the Central Bank was satisfied with effective controls for strict adherence to the foreign exchange market regulations.
“By this statement, we caution foreign exchange market players to adhere strictly to the applicable forex market regulations and guidelines,” the Bank of Ghana noted.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had indicted banks as being linked to about 70 percent of the financial crimes in Nigeria. EFCC’s Chairman, Ola Olukayode, disclosed this while speaking in Abuja at the 2023 Annual Retreat and General Meeting of the Association of Chief Audit Executives of Banks in Nigeria.
He pointed out that the banking sector was increasingly becoming a cesspool of fraudulent activities and this had been raising considerable challenges and concerns to the commission.
