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The Legal Framework of Banking Business in Ghana

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 July 2009

Extract

The two main sources of the statutory rules that regulate the business of banking in Ghana are the Bank of Ghana Act, 1963,2 as amended by the Bank of Ghana (Amendment) Act, 1965,3 and the Banking Act, 1970.4 Other legislation laying down rules relevant to the business of banking are the Companies Code, 1963,5 the Building Societies Ordinance, 1955,8 as amended,7 the Moneylenders Ordinance,8 the Incorporated Private Partnerships Act, 1962,9 and the Bills of Exchange Act, 1961.10

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © School of Oriental and African Studies 1975

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References

2 Act 182. This replaced the Bank of Ghana Ordinance (No. 34 of 1957). See Appendix I.

3 Act 282.

4 Act 339.

5 Act 179.

6 No. 30 of 1955.

7 The amending legislation is the Building Societies (Amendment) Act, 1957, (No. 9) and the Building Societies (Amendment) Act, 1959, (No. 19).

8 Cap. 176, 1951 Revision, as amended by N.L.C.D. 88.

9 Act 152.

10 Act 55. This is a verbatim reproduction of the English Bills of Exchange Act, 1882.

11 Act 339, s. 47.

page 23 note 1 See s.1 (1) of the Act.

page 23 note 2 See , Paget'sLaw of Banking, 7th Ed. by Megrah, Maurice, London, 1966, p. 12.Google Scholar

page 23 note 3 In Ghana, the National Investment Bank, established by the National Investment Bank Act, 1963, (Act 163), is an example of such an investment bank which operates no-deposit banking business but is entitled under the Banking Act to describe itself as a “bank”. The Agricultural Development Bank established in 1965 by Act 286 also operated without taking withdrawable deposits until this year. The National Merchant and Finance Bank which has recently been established does not appear to take such deposits either.

page 24 note 1 See s. 25 (1) of the Ordinance which reads as follows: “A building society may, from time to time as its rules permit, invest any portion of its funds not immediately required for its purposes, in or upon any stock, shares or securities for the time being authorized by law for the investment of trust moneys or in any other classes of investment authorized by the Governor by notice in the Gazette.”

page 24 note 2 See s. 38 of the Banking Act.

page 24 note 3 See s. 1 (1).

page 24 note 4 Act 232.

page 24 note 5 These are Barclays Bank Ghana Ltd. and Standard Bank Ghana Ltd., which are both privately owned. The third one is the National Finance and Merchant Bank jointly owned by the Government and by National and Grindlay's—a British bank.

page 24 note 6 These are the Ghana Commercial Bank (wholly owned by the Government) currently operating under the authority of the Ghana Commercial Bank Decree, 1972, (N.R.C.D. 115); the National Investment Bank established by the National Investment Bank Act, 1963 (Act 163); the Agricultural Development Bank established by the Agricultural Development Bank Act, 1965 (Act 286); the Post Office Savings Bank established as an independent unit by the Post Office Savings Bank Decree, 1972 (N.R.C.D. 38) and the Bank for Housing and Construction established by the Bank for Housing and Construction Decree, 1972 (N.R.C.D. 135).

page 24 note 7 In the Ghanaian Companies Code, the term “regulations” replaces the traditional “memorandum and articles of association” of English company law.

page 25 note 1 See s. 3 (2) of the Banking Act, 1970. See Appendix II.

page 25 note 2 See s. 47.

page 25 note 3 See s. 3 (3).

page 25 note 4 See s. 39.

page 25 note 5 See s. 12 (1).

page 25 note 6 See s. 13 (2).

page 26 note 1 See Part IV of the Bank of Ghana Act, 1963 (Act 182) and Parts III & IV of the Banking Act, 1970 (Act 339).

page 26 note 2 See s. 29 (1) of the Bank of Ghana Act 1963.

page 26 note 3 See id., s. 29 (3).

page 26 note 4 See s. 7 (1) of the Act.

page 27 note 1 See s. 31 of the Bank of Ghana Act.

page 27 note 2 See ss. 25 and 26.

page 27 note 3 See s. 28 of the Banking Act, 1970.

page 27 note 4 S. 13 (1) of the Act says: “Subject to the provisions of s. 16 of this Act, any person, not being a chartered accountant, who holds any of the qualifications prescribed by the Council for the purposes of this section shall be eligible as an accountant”.

page 27 note 5 See s. 36 of the Banking Act.

page 27 note 6 See s. 37 of the Banking Act.

page 28 note 1 See s. 30 of the Banking Act.

page 28 note 2 i.e. “Where the Bank of Ghana

(a) is satisfied that a bank is not carrying on the business of banking in the best interests of its depositors and creditors; or

(b) is satisfied that a bank has insufficient assets to cover its liabilities to the public; or

(c) is notified under s. 16 by a bank of its inability to meet its obligations to its depositors or creditors or of the bank's likelihood of suspending payment,…”: s. 20 (1).

page 28 note 3 See s. 20 (1).

page 28 note 4 See s. 22 of the Banking Act, 1970.

page 29 note 1 See s. 3 of the Bank of Ghana Act.

page 29 note 2 See s. 36.

page 29 note 3 See s. 37.

page 29 note 4 See s. 28.