GN Savings and Loans Company Limited, on May 21, won an appeal concerning the revocation of its operating licence in 2019, about two years after the then Akufo-Addo-led administration embarked on a banking sector “clean-up exercise”.

The exercise affected GN Bank, which later filed a legal challenge at the High Court in August 2019. However, in January 2024, the court, presided over by Justice Gifty Addo Adjei, ruled against the company, after which it pursued an appeal at the Court of Appeal, where it secured a ruling reinstating its licence.

Following the ruling, the Bank of Ghana immediately filed an appeal at the Supreme Court and, on the same day, applied for a stay of execution.

Months later, on Tuesday, July 14, the Supreme Court granted a stay of execution of the Court of Appeal judgment that restored the licence of GN Savings and Loans Company Limited.

The latest order by the Supreme Court will remain in force until the final determination of the substantive issues before it. By this ruling from the apex court, GN Savings and Loans Company Limited will have to temporarily halt the execution of the orders issued by the Court of Appeal in May 2026.

Court of Appeal’s ruling

The Court of Appeal not only ordered the restoration of the company’s licence but also directed that all assets of the bank be returned to their original owners. It further ordered the Receiver to hand over management of the company to its previous management team.

GN Bank’s status

GN Bank first suffered a downgrade from operating as a bank to a savings and loans company on January 4, 2019, and was subsequently renamed GN Savings and Loans Company Limited.

Seven months later, on August 16, 2019, under the leadership of former Bank of Ghana Governor Ernest Addison, the central bank revoked the company’s operating licence and appointed Eric Nana Nipah as Receiver.

The group led by Papa Kwesi Nduom challenged the decision, describing the revocation as unlawful, malicious, and unreasonable.

Among the reasons the company lost the case against the BoG in 2024 was the court’s finding that governance deficiencies had rendered GN Savings and Loans incapable of meeting its debt obligations. The court also concluded that the company failed to prove it was solvent at the time its licence was revoked.

The judge further stressed that the revocation of the bank’s licence by the BoG was carried out in accordance with the law and was in consonance with Article 130 of the 1992 Constitution, rejecting claims of unfairness and illegality.

The court also dismissed allegations of discrimination, noting that other financial institutions affected by the banking sector reforms were subjected to similar regulatory actions.

Despite the ruling, GN maintained that the revocation breached existing laws and appealed the decision, leading to the latest judgment by the Court of Appeal.

Nduom’s allegations against the then government

The Global Chairman of Groupe Nduom, Papa Kwesi Nduom, in July 2024, alleged that the Bank of Ghana (BoG) intentionally misrepresented the debt value of GN Bank to facilitate its closure.

Dr Nduom disclosed that a debt of GH¢2.2 billion was allegedly reduced and recorded as GH¢30 million to portray the bank as unstable and at systemic risk.

The Groupe Nduom chairman made the remarks during an inspection of a former GN Bank office at Roman Hill in Kumasi.

He also maintained that the bank had been unfairly shut down.

"People who said we only have about GH¢30 million, I know they did it deliberately because the same people, a year before, said they counted GH¢640 million.

“Meanwhile, they have seen a report by an independent auditor, which confirmed that the value of our project was GH¢2.2 billion. And so why did they use this to collapse GN Bank?”

Dr Nduom asked, according to a report by MyJoyOnline.

Despite the bank’s accusations and legal challenges against the BoG’s decision to revoke its licence, an Accra High Court upheld the central bank’s action.

The court found that the BoG had not breached any laws.