Regulators Sanction GTCO N1.49bn In H1 2024

Banking sector regulators in Nigeria, Ghana and Rwanda have imposed N1.49billion sanctions on Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc (GTCO) in half year ended June 2024, according to Our source.

From the audited H1 2024 results, the lender in its Ghana subsidiary was imposed N1.3 billion sanction for breaching foreign exchange market operational guidelines.

Our Source reported that in early March, Ghana Central Bank suspended foreign exchange licence of Guaranty Trust Bank Ghana Limited (GTBank) for involvement in fraudulent documentation of foreign exchange transactions.

A statement from the Central Bank said the suspension was as a result of various breaches of the foreign exchange market regulations, including fraudulent documentation.

The statement indicated that the licence of the two banks would be restored at the end of the one-month suspension, once the Central Bank was satisfied with effective controls for strict adherence to the foreign exchange market regulations.

However, the group in Nigeria was sanctioned an estimated N188million over four market infractions.

Our source reported that GTBank was sanctioned N8 million for failing CBN’s foreign exchange examination on the bank, N54 million in respect of consumer protection regulations and N124 million for failing 2024 compliance related/bank e-mail returns. In addition to the group sanction in Nigeria, a sanction of N2 million was imposed by CBN for failing mystery shopping exercise on the bank.

In Rwanda, the group sanctioned N560,000 and N311,000 for non-compliance noted with respect to the Bank taking fees which are not allowed by the regulator and non-compliance with the exchange rate applied by commercial banks, respectively.