Confidence in savings and loans sector will be restored- Bonds Savings & Loans CEO

The Chief Executive Officer of Bond Savings and Loans Plc, George Ofosuhene, is hopeful confidence in the sector will improve significantly with the deliberate steps taken by regulators following the financial sector clean up.

“I think that there are processes and programs that are in place that are being churned out and very soon we should see improvement in the level of confidence that the investing public has in this industry” he said.

He however says this may take some time, as most affected customers are still yet to retrieve their funds in full.

“It takes time you know, once you go through the process of punching peoples’ trust and comfort, it takes some time for you to get it back to where it is supposed to be” he stated.

Twenty-three Savings and Loans Companies and Finance Houses lost their licenses due to insolvency, with payment of deposits ongoing after government appointed a Receiver for the defunct firms.

While admitting the negative impact of the clean-up on the sector, Mr. Ofosuhene, who was speaking on Citi TV’s Face To Face, said it was necessary as the huge number of operators had allowed many to circumvent corporate governance structures and the rules of banking.

“I think that the industry has a good future, I think the industry has a very good status as far as the economy of the country is concerned. I think that the industry has a very important role as far as all of us are concerned so there is a need for us all to have the confidence to do business with the savings and loans sector” he stressed.

Customers of the 347 microfinance companies, 23 savings and loans, as well as 39 micro-credit institutions are currently being paid by the Receiver.

According to the Receiver, the outstanding payments to this group of customers in full will be a combination of cash and bonds.