Court of Appeal Orders BoG to Reinstate GN Bank Licence and Return Assets
Court overturns earlier High Court ruling in major twist to Ghana’s banking sector clean-up dispute
- Court of Appeal orders BoG to restore GN Bank’s operating licence
- Judges direct return of bank assets and management to former owners
- Ruling overturns earlier High Court decision that backed licence revocation
The Court of Appeal has directed the Bank of Ghana (BoG) to restore the operating licence of GN Bank, overturning an earlier High Court decision that upheld the revocation of the bank’s licence.
The three-member panel also ordered that all assets of the financial institution be returned to its original owners and instructed the Receiver to hand over management of the company to its former management team.
The ruling marks a significant twist in the long-standing legal battle between GN Bank and the Bank of Ghana over the controversial banking sector clean-up exercise launched in 2018.
GN Bank was reclassified as a savings and loans company on January 4, 2019, and subsequently renamed GN Savings and Loans Company Limited.
However, on August 16, 2019, under the leadership of former BoG Governor Ernest Addison, the central bank revoked the company’s operating licence and appointed Eric Nana Nipah as Receiver.
The owners of GN Savings and Loans, led by businessman Papa Kwesi Nduom, challenged the decision at the High Court in Accra on August 30, 2019, arguing that the revocation was unlawful, malicious, and unreasonable.
On January 24, 2024, the High Court, presided over by Justice Gifty Addo Adjei, ruled in favour of the Bank of Ghana, stating that governance deficiencies had made the institution incapable of meeting its debt obligations.
The court also held that GN Savings and Loans failed to prove it was solvent at the time its licence was revoked and dismissed claims that the Bank of Ghana acted illegally or unfairly.
Despite the ruling, GN appealed the judgment, insisting that the revocation violated existing laws, leading to the latest Court of Appeal decision ordering the restoration of the bank’s licence and assets.
