Member of Parliament for Suame and the Majority Leader, Mr. Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu, has indicated that Parliament will draft a proper legislation to regulate the banking sector, following the collapse of some seven indigenous banks.
The Suame MP who doubles as the Leader of Government Business and the Minister for Parliamentary Affairs stated that the information gathered by the Finance Committee during the three-day hearing would help Parliament to come out with a proper legislation to tighten loose ends in the banking sector.
Speaking to ghanajustice.com in an interview, the Leader of Government Business pointed out that the new phase of the legislation would help avert future crisis in the banking sector.
He further added that the Parliamentary Finance Committee’s probing into information gathered on the seven collapsed banks, is not aimed at pushing for indictment, but rather identifying the loopholes in the existing legislation and shape it for effective regulation and oversight responsibility.
Mr. Mensah-Bonsu however did not state how soon Parliament will commence work on the proposed amendment.
On the issue of a member of the Committee, Mr. Isaac Adongo, recusing himself from the hearing, Mr. Mensah-Bonsu reiterated that Parliament represents various shades of opinion.
”In Parliament, there can never be absolute uniformity. Opinions may differ to arrive at a conclusion. The Minority representatives on the Finance Committee had indicated that Mr.Adongo spoke for himself”, he averred.
The Finance Committee’s probing and the outcome
The Finance Committee of Parliament’s three days hearing sought to gather information on the seven collapsed banks (UT Bank, Royal Bank, Capital Bank, The Construction Bank, Beige Bank, Unibank Bank and Sovereign Bank ) within a period of 12 months.
The institutions that appeared before the Committee are Bank of Ghana (BoG), Consolidated Bank Ghana(CBG), Klynveld Peat Marwick Goerdeler (KPMG), PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), the Ministry of Finance, Security and Exchange Commission (SEC), and the National Insurance Commission (NIC).
Owners and Directors of the seven collapsed banks were however not invited to the committee.
The Chairman of the committee, Dr. Assibey Yeboah, has disclosed that the report of the committee would be comprehensive and may not be less than a three-hundred page document.
Source: GhanaJustice/S.Ayisi
