UT Bank could have survived if BoG had given us time – Kofi Amoabeng

General News of Saturday, February 9, 2019

Source: citinewsroom.com

2019-02-09

Prince Kofi Amoabeng, chairman of UT Holdings, said that he thought the defunct UT Bank, which he had founded, could have survived if the Bank of Ghana had given them time to turn its business around.

Mr. Amoabeng, who admitted that the bank's governance structures were struggling, said there was another way to solve the problem than to close the bank.

Speaking at the KSM broadcast on the Accra-based Metro television channel, Amoabeng said the decision to close the bank was costing the country more.

The government found us in this situation, [but] Was this the best way to go because we had investors ready to make some proposals. They decide that the best thing to do is close the UT bank, which I find really hard to take, but from where they sit, they decide that it was the best thing for the country . I do not bear a grudge, but the fact is that if we had a debt of 800 million GHT from the bank UT, an investor comes and he declares that I am ready to pay 400 million GH $. [so] The Bank of Ghana cancels the [other] 400 million GH ¢, but BoG makes the decision to close the bank, which will cost at least 2.2 billion GH to the nation, it does not make sense to me, "he said.

The president of UT Holdings, however, said he was not keeping a grudge on the situation and that the defunct bank badumed responsibility for the bankruptcy of the financial institution.

"We had put our society to the test, so we were vulnerable and the government had to intervene as it pleases … .TU must be blamed first.

On August 14, 2017, the Bank of Ghana announced that it had revoked the license of UT Bank and that it was being taken over by GCB Bank due to a serious depreciation of the bank. capital.

Amoabeng, who refrained from commenting on developments in a statement a year later, expressed regret over the bank's bankruptcy and promised to cooperate with investigations.

"But what's more important to me today is the inability of many workers who once boasted about being UT employees and now have little or nothing to show for their work. years of dedication and service; the negative impact on other UT companies in the eyes of the investors who believed in us and our vision to see a Ghanaian company become a successful global brand. I will continue to cooperate with all the public bodies studying the evolution of the situation so that the question is final, "he said.