The Bank of Ghana on Friday, 4th January 2019 announced the revocation of the banking license of

Heritage Bank Limited on the following grounds;

• Suspicions relating to the source of the bank’s capital and matters related therewith including the claim that it was derived from contracts with CoCobod which were the subject matter of an ongoing criminal prosecution
• Issues around the shareholding of the Bank and alleged nondisclosure of ultimate beneficial shareholders;
• several related party transactions which were not above board
• the significant shareholder was not ‘fit and proper”.

We would have preferred not to enter into any public disputation about these matters with the Central Bank so as not to further darken the cloud that hangs over the ongoing banking sector reforms.  However, we owe a duty to ourselves, our cherished customers and our dedicated staff, who in the face of numerous challenges remained committed to the vision of the bank to the very end, and to the general public who have been keen observers of the developments in the banking sector, to clarify certain claims in the press release by the Bank of Ghana that are either complete falsehoods or inaccurate at best. We wish therefore to state as follows:

(1) Suspicious source of capital and related matters

We find it puzzling that the Bank of Ghana should now be disputing the existence of a contract between HBL’s main shareholder and COCOBOD, when the Bank,  as part of its due diligence ahead of the granting of HBL’s provisional banking license had requested and received confirmation from COCOBOD of the existence of the contractual arrangements between the COCOBOD and the said shareholder.

We also want to state on record that Heritage Bank NEVER RECEIVED, nor is the Board  aware of any order from the High Court (or any other court for that matter) for disclosures relating to any contract involving Mr Seidu Agongo. Indeed, we are hearing of this matter for the VERY FIRST TIME through the Governor’s news conference.In any case, we are unable to fathom why the High Court would order Heritage Bank to make disclosures in respect of a contract that it is not a party to, or a custodian of.

Furthermore, it is even more puzzling  that  the Bank of Ghana would claim it has  it has no knowledge of Mr. Seidu Agongo being a shareholder of Sarago Limited. The shareholding structure of Sarago Limited is a matter of public record since it is a registered company at the Registrar-General’s Department. More importantly, the Bank of Ghana in its own provisional license to Heritage Bank stated as a condition that  the concentration of HBL’s shareholding in Mr. Seidu Agongo and Sarago Limited be diluted within  three years of the commencement of  operations. Mr Agongo’s association with Sarago Limited was thus known to Bank of Ghana at the time of the licensing.

(3) The grounds for the revocation of HBL’s license also included a claim that the bank had approved ‘several related party transactions’, that is loans and facilities to it main shareholder. Three companies were cited in the Governor’s statement

SASSH ALLIANCE: Heritage Bank gave facilities totaling GHC6m; an Overdraft of GHC3m, and a Bank Guarantee of GHC3m which were fully collateralized, were  subjected to the standard credit requirements, and were duly approved by the Board in accordance with S.67 of Act 930. These are the only transactions with SASSH ALLIANCE.

MOOR COMPANY LIMITED: The company had a vehicle leasing contract with Heritage Bank by which it provided the bank with its vehicles. This contract was terminated when the bank purchased the vehicles. KEDGE COMPANY LIMITED: The company rents out properties to some of Heritage Bank’s branches.

All the above transactions were handled in a transparent manner and at arm’s length. Apart from the credit facility to Sassh Alliance, Heritage Bank has no exposure to any of the companies mentioned.

(4) The significant shareholder was not fit and proper

It is not clear to us how the Bank of Ghana came to this conclusion but this is a matter obviously best dealt with by the said shareholder in any manner that he shall deem appropriate. Suffice it to say only that neither the bank,  nor its directors or shareholders were afforded the statutory notice period, by the Bank of Ghana, within which to have responded to the allegations made prior to the abrupt revocation its license, contrary to the provisions of the very same law under which the license was  revoked.

 (5) Conclusion

As a Board, we had engaged with the Bank of Ghana including the Governors on numerous occasions ALL in relation to meeting the capital requirement, and at no time had the issues now  being given as grounds for the revocation of the bank’s license been raised. Indeed as recently as Deccember 24, 2018 the Bank of Ghana had given Heritage Bank clearance for a potential investor who had brought proof of funds to transfer the money. We had considered and applied for consideration under the Ghana Amalgamated Trust scheme and had received positive signals. We were literally in  conversation with our prospective investor when the bank was summoned at about 12pm to a meeting at 2pm and handed a letter revoking the bank’s license.

Heritage Bank was by the Bank of Ghana’s own admission a solvent bank.  It NEVER received liquidity support from the Bank of Ghana. Its corporate governance record had never been impugned by the Bank of Ghana. We believe we have been done a  grave injustice and a terrible precedent set that does not bode well for the future. We have dealt herein only with matters affecting the Board’s  responsibilities that needed to be clarified to set the record straight, and this, without prejudice to whatever legal options the shareholders may wish to avail themselves of  in order to get justice for the even greater harm done to them.

ISSUED BY THE ERSTWHILE BOARD OF HERITAGE BANK LIMITED.