First National Bank Ghana has announced that it has temporarily halted the processing of new or pending foreign exchange transactions for 30 days due to ongoing engagements with the Bank of Ghana (BoG).
This is after the Central Bank fined them as well as Fidelity Bank Ghana Limited a combined 1000 penalty points each for breaching sections 3.4, 3.5, and 3.9 of the Ghana Interbank Forex Market Conduct rules.
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In addition, the BoG suspended the respective forex licenses of the two banks from June 29 to July 28, 2023.
The central bank in a statement cautioned forex market players to adhere strictly to the applicable forex market regulations and guidelines.
“By this notice, we caution forex market players including banks, forex bureaus, forex brokers, and money transfer operators (MTOs) to adhere strictly to the applicable forex market regulations and guidelines,” the statement said.
But reacting to this also in a statement, First National Bank said “To minimize any possible disruptions, we have made temporary arrangements with partner banks to initiate and complete foreign exchange deals for and on behalf of First National Bank Ghana and its clients, should the need arise.
“As a bank, we hold ourselves to the highest operational and regulatory standards in every aspect of our business. We are committed to reaching an amicable resolution with the Bank of Ghana for the restoration of our Foreign Exchange license.”