Less than 24 hours following the temporary suspension of its forex license by the Bank of Ghana (BoG), First National Bank has promptly informed its clients about the measures it has implemented to safeguard their funds.
In a statement, the Bank revealed that it has established temporary agreements with partner banks to facilitate and finalize foreign exchange transactions on behalf of the company and its customers. This move aims to ensure uninterrupted forex services during the suspension period.
We can confirm that we have temporarily halted the processing of new or pending foreign exchange transactions for the next 30 days.
— First National Bank GH (@firstnatbankgh) June 29, 2023
As we cooperate with the BoG, be assured that your business and all other banking relationship with us will not be impacted.
#TheChangeables pic.twitter.com/h7B7Qi1wHQ
On June 29, the Bank of Ghana (BoG) suspended the forex licences of Fidelity Bank Ghana Limited and First National Bank Ghana Limited for violating the rules of the Ghana Interbank Forex Market.
The two banks will not be able to engage in any forex transactions from 29th June 2023 to 28th July 2023, according to a press statement signed by Sandra Thompson, the Secretary of the BoG.
They have also been fined 1000 penalty points each, for breaching sections 3.4, 3.5, and 3.9 of the Ghana Interbank Forex Market Conduct.
Fines and Suspension of Forex Licences of Fidelity Bank Ghana Limited and First National Bank Ghana Limited pic.twitter.com/WjGVpIeDme
— Bank of Ghana (@thebankofghana) June 29, 2023
In response, First National Bank apologised to its customers and announced that it has began engaging the Central Bank to address the challenges.
Meanwhile, Fidelity Bank has also rendered an unqualified apology to its customers.
“We apologize for any inconvenience this announcement may have caused, and we reassure all our valued customers that we are actively engaging the Bank of Ghana to resolve the issue as soon as possible,” Fidelity Bank said in a statement.
Also, the bank indicated that it has in the interim reached agreements with its partner banks to aid in seamless completion of foreign exchange transactions on its behalf.
Ghana Interbank Forex Market Conduct
Section 3.4 indicates that LFXDs are required to update indicative quotes for buying and selling US dollars at regular intervals, on the Reuters and Bloomberg information systems. Indicative quotes shall be updated at intervals of no more than 30 minutes. (This will show the price at which a market-maker is prepared to buy and sell at the minimum traded lots).
Trade Reporting on Platforms captured in 3.5 requires that all interbank FX trades must be booked on the Reuters platform and appropriately confirmed within five (5) minutes after the trade is concluded. These trades must also be reported in the daily FX report submitted to the Bank of Ghana.
Section 3.9 on the other hand, mandates the Bank of Ghana to publish the Ghana Cedi reference rate with respect to the US dollar on the Bank of Ghana website by 16:30 hours GMT daily except on holidays.
“The reference rate shall be computed using the weighted average exchange rate of all eligible US dollar transactions that are reported to the Bank of Ghana by the cut-off time of 15:30 hours GMT. The Bid and Offer reference rates are calculated by taking a +/- 0.05% bid/ask spread around the weighted average exchange rate. The reference rate will also be published on Reuters and Bloomberg by 16.30 hours GMT,” it adds.
Source: The Independent Ghana | Andy Ogbarmey-Tettey