The Court of Appeal has overturned a High Court ruling that upheld the revocation of GN Bank’s licence, directing the Bank of Ghana to reinstate the institution’s operating permit. The court further ordered the return of all assets to the bank’s owners and instructed the Receiver to hand over management to its former leadership. The decision marks a dramatic turn in the ongoing legal battle over the 2018 banking sector clean-up, which saw GN Bank downgraded to a savings and loans company and renamed GN Savings and Loans Company Limited.
On August 16, 2019, under the tenure of former Bank of Ghana 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 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.
However, on January 24, 2024, the High Court, presided over by Justice Gifty Addo Adjei, ruled in favour of the Bank of Ghana. The court held that governance lapses had rendered GN Savings and Loans incapable of meeting its debt obligations and concluded that the company failed to prove it was solvent at the time its licence was revoked.
Justice Addo Adjei also dismissed claims that the Bank of Ghana acted illegally or unfairly, ruling that the regulator’s intervention was lawful and consistent with Article 130 of the 1992 Constitution. The court further rejected allegations of discrimination, noting that other financial institutions affected by the banking sector reforms faced similar regulatory action.
Despite the ruling, GN maintained that the revocation breached existing laws and appealed the decision, leading to the latest judgment by the Court of Appeal.
By: Fred Tettey Djabanor
