The appointment of KPMG as administrators of uniBank came as a surprise to many Ghanaians. How the bank that was purportedly taking over Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) a few weeks ago, suddenly got taken over by the central bank and placed under the management of KPMG is still a puzzle. 3news.com gives you a comprehensive chronology of events that built up to the takeover of the bank on Tuesday March 20.
- uniBank announced on March 7, 2018 that it had acquired over 51% of shares in Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) which they said gave them the controlling power over ADB in a GHS 600 million deal. According to uniBank, their purported controlling power was as a result of shares pledged to them by a consortium that control majority shares in ADB. The consortium was said to be led by Belstar Capital–a turnkey project finance and implementation institution, and includes Starmount Development Company Limited, EDC Investments Limited and SIC-FSL. This was wildly reported as ‘uniBank take over ADB’.
- On the same day, the Bank of Ghana issued a statement dismissing the purported takeover of Agricultural Development Bank by uniBank. The Bank of Ghana stated strongly it did not approve the purported takeover.
- Following the purported takeover and Bank of Ghana’s disapproval of the takeover, the Ghana Stock Exchange suspended the trading of ADB shares on the stock market on March 7. However, the suspension was later revoked the same day.
- ADB also came out on the same day to reject claims by uniBank that they had been taken over.
- SIC-FSL, one of the shareholders in the consortium that purportedly pledged their shares to uniBank, also denied pledging its shares.
- uniBank later issued a statement to announce a contrary position saying “we are not taking over ADB”.
- On March 20, the Bank of Ghana announced KPMG as administrators to assume control of the Unibank and all its branches and carry out the responsibilities of the shareholders, directors, and key management personnel of uniBank. Bank of Ghana said the move is aimed at saving uniBank from imminent collapse, to prevent losses to depositors and other creditors, and ensure that the financial condition of the bank does not create further risks for the entire financial system.
- KMPG issued a statement assuming their role as administrators of the Unibank while assuring the public of normal transactions except to commence work on Wednesday March 21, at noon.
- 3news.com’s checks confirmed that as at noon Wednesday, the branches had opened and banking was going on as usual.
- KMPG is expected to rehabilitate and return the bank to regulatory compliance within a period of six months, at the end of which the bank will be returned to private ownership and management. The process has just started and KPMG has expressed optimism that it will bring the bank back on to its feet soon.