Ghana’s Finance Minister Ken Ofori Atta has broken his long silence on the impasse between embattled gold dealership firm Menzgold and the Security and Exchange Commission.
The Securities and Exchange Commission some few months ago wrote to Gold dealership company Menzgold to shut down all investment trading in gold
In a September 3, 2018 letter signed by Deputy Director General, Paul Ababio, said: “In September 2017, the SEC issued a public notice indicating that it does not regulate Menzgold. The SEC began to further investigations into the activities of Menzgold in July 2018. In August 2018, the Commission called for an inter-sectoral meeting that involved the Minerals Commission, Bank of Ghana and the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Meeting concluded that it is evident Menzgold’s activities appear to go beyond the mandate authorised in its license”.
The letter from SEC added that failure by the embattled gold firm to comply with the directive “will lead to the SEC employing other relevant measures under the law to enforce compliance.”
As a response to the letter from the Security and Exchange Commission, Menzgold on September 13, 2018, announced that it has temporarily halted its collectibles and any new business related to its gold vault market with immediate effect and since the halt of business, Menzgold not being able to resume till date.
Eventually, Menzgold on September 27, 2018, hauled the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Bank of Ghana (BoG) to court over what it deemed as an unfair treatment being meted out to the company.
READ ALSO: Menzgold will not exist again – Deputy Finance Minister
Menzgold in its suit is seeking an order from the court to halt these two state institutions from interfering in its business and operations. The gold dealership company is also asking the court to stop the BoG and the SEC from further publishing what it described as “derogatory notices” against its business.
However, speaking on Accra-based radio station, Peace FM monitored by Ghanatalksbusiness.com, on Friday November 16, 2018, Finance Minister emphasized the stance of the Security and Exchange Commission about Menzgold, saying the embattled firm is an unlicensed entity
According to Ken Ofori Atta stated that people fall for those supposed high-returns-paying-investment houses because of greed.
He advanced that, the International Gold price increases from 1-3% a year so if someone tells you he will give you 10 percent then you should know it’s not genuine.
In related development, Deputy Minister of Finance in early November hinted that Menzgold will not be in business again in Ghana.
According to the Deputy Minister, after several cautions from the Bank of Ghana and the Security and Exchange Commission, Menzgold has not been able to produce any legitimate license to the regulators thereby making their activities in the financial sector illegal.
Speaking at a JoyBusiness Financial Service Forum themed “The Changing Tide of Ghana’s Financial Service Sector: The Cause, The Cost, the Clean up” monitored by Ghanatalksbusiness.com, Deputy Finance Minister, Charles Adu Boahen disclosed that “With the Menzgold issue, I think it is clear that the end is here. He is done”
He also cautioned that irrespective of the fact that, Menzgold’s activities have been terminated, the Management must pay every depositor’s money without fail.
