Shareholders of UT Bank may have to wait a little longer until their fate is determined by the relevant transaction partners in the takeover of UT and Capital bank by GCB Bank.
This is the indication from the Managing Director of the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE), Mr. Kofi Yamoah.
According to him, the benefits or otherwise accruing to shareholders would be dependent on the available funds and direction from the receiving institution; Price WaterHouse Coopers (PwC).
The comments by Mr. Yamoah however come despite the suspension of trading activities of UT Bank on the Ghana Stock Exchange on Monday, August 14, 2017.
“Shareholders issue is in the hands of the receiver and Price Waterhouse Coopers has been appointed as the receiver as far as this transaction is concerned and we will liaise with them and in due course so that we can provide information for shareholders as and when work progresses by PwC,” Mr. Yamoah stated.
The GSE boss however clarified that the takeover of the assets of UT Bank does not necessarily translate into a shareholders swap.
“This is not a transaction in shares so if you are a shareholder in UT, you do not necessarily translate into a shareholder of GCB. GCB has not bought the shares of UT Bank, they have taken over certain liabilities and assets of UT Bank. The two entities of shareholding are completely different.”
BoG not to compensate shareholders of Capital Bank
Meanwhile the Bank of Ghana has indicated that the shareholders of Capital Bank will not be compensated.
Discussions with the Ghana Stock Exchange in the coming days will determine the way forward for persons or organisations who bought shares of UT Bank on the stocks, according to the Head of Banking Supervision of the Bank of Ghana, Raymond Amanfu.
With respect to Capital Bank, Mr. Amanfu explained that its shareholders should have been more vigilant given they bore the brunt of the risk.
“Now you must protect your interest as a shareholder. They appointed the board. The boards are accountable them so if the board is accountable to you and you are the shareholders, and quite a significant number who are shareholders are on the board, and you supervise the banks to get into this situation – you are the risk taker.”
In UT Bank’s case, it has institutional shareholders, some of which are on the Ghana Stock Exchange thus, further considerations will have to be made, Mr. Amanfu said.
“We think that there are issues of listed companies which are being discussed with the stock but the fact that we are listed does not mean that we should wait for you to prove how much of deposits money that is at stake compared to the huge deposits that have been taken.”
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By: Pius Amihere Eduku/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana
