The shareholders of distress Akyempim Rural Bank have voted overwhelmingly to merge with Gomoaman Community Rural Bank.
The move is as a result of the banking getting into bankruptcy and their inability to meet a new capital requirement set by the regulating of the banking and financial industry, the Bank of Ghana.
The central bank has given all rural and community-based banks to increase their minimum capital requirement to GHC 1million by the end of the new coming 2017.
Speaking at the bank’s 30th Annual General Meeting (AGM) for shareholders, the interim board chairman Mr Alex Coffie appealed to the shareholders to avoid the situation where the banks will be closed down entirely as the regulator have given them by time resolve problems facing the bank or have their license withdrawn.
“Please let us accept the resolution of the board to join Gomoaman Community Bank with its headquarters at Apam to avoid facing consequences of withdrawing operational license by the Bank of Ghana (BOG).”
“This is a hard decision that was taken by the Board of Directors to merge with our sister bank. And let me add that this has become necessary following an emergency meeting convened by ARB APEX Bank with distressed banks in the Central region early this year,” he added.
Mr Coffie said the move he believes would attract investors also be able to meet the new capital requirement set out by the Bank of Ghana (BOG) by the end of 2017. The Board Chairman stated that one million Ghana Cedis Share capital required by BOG for every Rural and Community Banks cannot by met due to the current situation of the Bank.
In August 2015 the then board members of Akyempim Rural Bank resigned at a go, on the directives of ARB Apex Bank the mandated regulator of the rural and community base banks in the country due to poor performance and negligence as directors of the Bank.
Mr Coffie lamented that Akyempim Rural Bank as at the time that they were having the AGM could not boost of 50,000 Ghana Cedis share capital and it would be extremely difficult for shareholders to mobilise one million Ghana Cedis by the end of the period given by Bank of Ghana and therefore the merger was a better option.
He told the AGM that, the board was waiting for the completion of the merger processes initiated for the three banks Gomoa Rural Bank at Apam, Gomoa Ajumako Rural Bank at Gomoa Afransi and Eastern Gomoa Assin Rural Bank at Gomoa Dominase due to the liquidity crisis, then theirs could also be commenced.
Mr Coffie said there was an urgent need for the fresh injection of funds to resuscitate the bank so that depositors whose monies are locked up in the bank could be paid gradually to build confidence.
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