Access Bank, Intercontinental Bank to merge

Two banks operating in the country are about to merge according to information reaching ghanabusinessnews.com.

A source at Access Bank tells ghanabusinessnews.com that the bank has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Intercontinental Bank to that effect.

It is not known yet why these two banks are merging, but some banking sector observers believe that the two banks might be merging to meet the Bank of Ghana capital requirement for banks in the country.

The Bank of Ghana in February 2008 set the minimum capital requirement for obtaining universal banking licence at GH¢60 million. Existing banks were required to attain a minimum capitalization of GH¢ 60 million by December 31 2009.

Ghanaian-owned banks have been given a longer time period to meet the new minimum capital requirement. Under the directive, banks with local majority share ownership were required to have attained a capitalization of at least GH¢ 25 million by the end of 2010 and GH¢60 million by 2012.

We would bring you further details as the story unfolds.

By Emmanuel K. Dogbevi