The Bank of Ghana has agreed to pre-finance the full outstanding salaries and negotiated exit packages of former employees of the defunct 347 microfinance firms and 23 savings and loans companies and Finance House firms.
This was announced in a statement by the Receiver, Eric Nana Nipah, who doubles as a Director of PricewaterhouseCoopers (Ghana) Limited (PwC).
According to him, “this is to alleviate the economic impact of the resolution exercise on former employees of the affected companies particularly as the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is having a toll on individuals and businesses.”
The Receiver also stated that consultations with authorised representatives of the former employees to agree on processes of payment will begin effective Monday 13 July, 2020
He further noted that he would only fully settle outstanding salaries and exit packages of former employees which have been duly validated, agreed and in the resolution process.
“To ameliorate the economic impact of the resolution exercise on former employees of these affected companies particularly in these times of COVID, Bank of Ghana has agreed to pre-finance the full settlement of employee related claims which otherwise rank as unsecured claims in the receiverships of these companies,” the statement said.
It said “The Receiver will in the week commencing Monday, July 13, 2020, engage with the authorised representatives of the ex-staff to agree on modalities for the payment of outstanding salaries and exit packages to ex-staff of these resolved institutions.”
“In line with the hierarchy of creditor claims set out under Act 930, other creditors of the failed institutions will be settled by the Receiver upon validation of their claims and to the extent that the Receiver is able to realise value from the remaining assets of these institutions,” he said.
It would be recalled that following the revocation of the licences of the 347 microfinance companies and 23 savings and loans companies, a validation of the affected customers commenced on November 18, 2019, with the aim of repayment.
BY TIMES REPORTER
