The Central Bank has been sued by shareholders of the defunct uniBank for annulling moves to acquire shares in adb.

The plaintiff, shareholders of uniBank say the decision by the Bank of Ghana can best be described as "arbitrary, capricious and inconsistent".

The shareholders are Belstar Capital Limited and Starmount Development Company Limited.

BoG Governor, Dr Ernest Addison. Source: Supplied.
In March this year Belstar and Starmount, reportedly pledged their shares, proceeds, entitlement and voting rights to uniBank.

But the Bank of Ghana almost immediately, dismissed as false the alleged takeover of the Agricultural Development Bank (adb) by indigenous bank, uniBank.

BoG Governor, Dr. Ernest Addison earlier stated that the funds were given to uniBank to help it solve its liquidity challenges by the shareholders.

Announcing the financial health of uniBank after consolidating it with other banks on [August 1, 2018], Dr. Addison said the official administrator, KPMG’s reports confirmed, based on a detailed review and validation of the financial condition of uniBank that the bank was balance sheet insolvent.

“Among other things, the bank’s interest income and other sources of income are insufficient to cover the associated cost of funds of underlying borrowings and liabilities, as well as overheads of about GH¢0.31 billion per annum.

“A significant portion of the bank’s loan book which forms the largest component of the bank’s assets, is non-performing. The earning capacity of the bank continues to deteriorate,” he added.

He observed that key findings from KPMG’s reports indicated serious corporate governance, risk management, compliance and management flaws, as well as unlawful transactions involving shareholders, related parties, and connected parties.