Blackshield Fund Management Limited, previously known as Gold Coast Fund Management, has contested the explanations provided by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regarding the delay in disbursing funds owed to customers of the now-defunct company.
Customers of the defunct firm staged a protest earlier this week at the Finance Ministry’s offices, seeking the release of their trapped investments.
In a press release issued on Wednesday, the SEC said, “We wish to state that the delay in payment of bailout funds to affected customers is not due to the refusal of the Ministry of Finance to provide funds. The delay is principally due to the legal action by Blackshield/Gold Coast contesting the liquidation petition brought by the Official Liquidator (Office of the Registrar of Companies) at the request of SEC following the revocation of licenses. The SEC will continue to support the Official Liquidator in pursuing the liquidation petition in court.”
However, Blackshield Fund Management Ltd has asserted that the SEC declined to aid them in recovering an outstanding amount of over GH¢5 billion in principal and interest, owed by government institutions to the company and its affiliated entities. The SEC is said to have cited that it is not involved in debt collection.
“SEC knows that Parliament did not impose any conditions for the payment of validated funds due to customers of fund management companies including BlackShield,” it said in a rejoinder issued on Thursday.
“We will not go further than this. We will respect the judiciary processes still going on with the belief that our rights will eventually be restored. We urge those responsible to pay what is due to BlackShield Capital Management Limited and related companies so that what is due to our customers per our records, can be paid to them,” it added.
READ THE FULL STATEMENT FROM BLACKSHIELD HERE
PRESS RELEASE
It has come to our attention that on 11 October 2023, the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) put out a public release, “Update on implementation of bailout program for affected clients of Blackshield Fund Management Ltd (formerly Gold Coast).
In the release, SEC wrote, “We wish to state that the delay in payment of bailout funds to affected customers is not due to the refusal of the Ministry of Finance to provide funds. The delay is principally due to the legal action by Blackshield/Gold Coast contesting the liquidation petition brought by the Official Liquidator (Office of the Registrar of Companies) at the request of SEC following the revocation of licenses. The SEC will continue to support the Official Liquidator in pursuing the liquidation petition in court.”
Nothing could be further from the truth.
There are related matters in court. So, as law law-abiding organization, we choose not to wrestle with SEC where it has descended. Our response will be brief, for now. SEC did not allow due process to play out per their regulations before deciding to withdraw the BlackShield Capital Management Limited’s (BlackShield) license. SEC refused to assist BlackShield in collecting what is now over GHS5 billion in principal and interest owed to the company and its related companies by government institutions, saying that “…it is not a debt collector”. SEC knows that Parliament did not impose any conditions for the payment of validated funds due to customers of fund management companies including BlackShield. We ask, why is the SEC using “liquidation” as a condition for payment?
We will not go further than this. We will respect the judiciary processes still going on with the belief that our rights will eventually be restored.
We urge those responsible to pay what is due to BlackShield Capital Management Limited and related companies so that what is due to our customers per our records, can be paid to them.