As part of its efforts to control the foreign exchange market, the top bank announced in a statement that the suspension would start on March 18. This is just three months after the bank forbade eight money transfer organizations (MTOs) from providing remittance services without regulatory license.
Guaranty Trust Bank and FBN Bank’s foreign exchange licenses were suspended by the Ghanaian Central Bank on Tuesday for a period of one month.
As part of its efforts to control the foreign exchange market, the top bank announced in a statement that the suspension would start on March 18. This is just three months after the bank forbade eight money transfer organizations (MTOs) from providing remittance services without regulatory license.
The statement went on to say that the impacted commercial banks had submitted false documents for their forex activities, among other violations of the norms governing the foreign exchange market.
Guaranty Trust Bank responded by saying in a statement released on Tuesday that it is “actively collaborating with the Bank of Ghana to swiftly address the trade-related issues leading to the suspension.”
Additionally, the bank informed clients that the suspension only applied to its foreign exchange business and that no other company operations were impacted.
The suspension is compliant with Foreign Exchange Act of 2006 Section 11(2), which grants the Bank of Ghana the authority to temporarily suspend a license rather than cancel it.
In a statement, the Bank of Ghana stated that if it was satisfied that the banks had “put in place effective controls” to guarantee strict adherence to regulations, it would reinstate the licenses of the banks within a month. The top bank issued a warning to other financial organizations and demanded that rules and regulations governing the foreign exchange market be strictly followed.
Over 4,000 Bureau De Change operators (BDCs) had their licenses withdrawn by the Central Bank of Nigeria last week for noncompliance with anti-money laundering and anti-terrorism financing standards, nonreporting, and nonpayment of certain fees.
The government of Nigeria has also been taking various measures to crack down on Binance, a worldwide cryptocurrency trading platform, due to allegations of fraud that caused the Naira, the country’s currency, to devalue.
