Mr. Nana Otuo Acheampong, a Banking Expert, has recommended that to satisfy the Bank of Ghana’s (BoG) requirement, commercial banks should hold their Annual General Meetings (AGM’s) virtually.
This comment by the Banking Expert follows many commercial banks serving notice that their AGMs have been put on hold as a way of responding to the risks associated with the Coronavirus outbreak in Ghana.
Speaking in an interview, the banking expert, said; “The ban on public gathering which has been given under the certificate of urgency is like when you are in a war and everything stops and gets substituted. That is why they have to go and implement the Imposition of Restriction Act passed by Parliament. So, once the law is in place, then everything else is on hold and therefore it will include holding Annual General Meetings”
“No institution can hold an Annual General Meeting unless they are doing it electronically. Nobody can hold an AGM with a 1,000 or so shareholders. It’s all under the Imposition of Restriction Act,” Nana Otuo Acheampong said.
Banks in Ghana, meanwhile, per the Banking Act are required to publish their financial statements of account along with holding Annual General Meetings with their shareholders annually.
However, banks are now faced with the challenge of how to meet their shareholders due to social distancing directives with the imposition of a ban on social gathering by the state.
Several businesses and organisations, following the outbreak of the Coronavirus pandemic in Ghana, have been badly hit financially with some having been forced to fold and lay off some of their staff.
