The Bank of Ghana (BoG) has announced quarterly meetings with all regulators in the financial sector to monitor companies and individuals with regulatory issues within the industry.
The central bank says the activities of Menzgold and other illegal financial institutions must be checked to safeguard the sector.
Speaking to journalists, BoG Governor Dr. Ernest Addison said Menzgold and its activities caused a major reform in the financial sector.
“At least since the Menzgold incident, we now have the Financial Stability Council. The Financial Stability Council brings all the regulators together: BoG, SCCE, NPRA, and the National Insurance Commission.”
“We have a quarterly meeting where we discuss development in the market, and we believe that that should help deal with this issue about regulatory gaps. Because now all the regulators have a forum where they discuss these developments as they unfold,” he stated.
Meanwhile, Nana Appiah Mensah, the founder of the defunct Menzgold company, who is on trial for allegedly defrauding over 16,000 people of GH¢1.6 billion, has denied circumventing the laws of Ghana to operate an illegal gold deposit-taking business.
His lawyer, Kwame Akuffo, told the High Court on Tuesday, September 19, that Appiah Mensah, popularly known as NAM 1, did not circumvent the Banking and Specialised Deposit-Taking Institutions Act, 2016 (Act 930), as alleged by the prosecution.
Instead, Akuffo claimed that it was officials of the Bank of Ghana (BoG) who advised Mensah to change the name of his company from Menzbank to Menzbanc and to set up a third company, Brew Marketing Consult, to keep the gold marketing business distinct from the business of Menzgold.
