The Member of Parliament (MP) for Manhyia South, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, has appealed to the Speaker to invite to the House, Bank of Ghana (BoG) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), over the intended sale of ADB shares to the public.
“Mr. Speaker, in your planning to bring adb, I think we should also allow the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Bank of Ghana to brief us why they are allowing adb to float its shares”, he noted in his submission on the floor of Parliament Friday.
His comment was in support to a concern raised by the MP for Afutu, Alexander Afenyo-Markins, who sought to inquire from the First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Ebo Barton-Oduro, who was presiding over the affairs of the House why it has kept long to invite ADB for questioning over their intended sale of shares to the public.
The Attorney-General has, meanwhile, observed the bank does need a parliamentary approval for its Initial Public Offer (IPO) in which it is seeking to raise some GHc300million to recapitalize and revamp its operations, to make it very competitive.
Parliament, kasapaonline.com has learnt, is in the process of inviting management of ADB Bank Ghana Limited for questioning over their IPO initiative. The move follows an objection raised by the Afutu legislator a fortnight ago as to why it was imperative for the bank to seek Parliamentary approval before floating its shares to the public.
While the bank has agreed to meet Parliament, a stakeholder, in their scheme of things, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh thinks it would be better to also bring onboard the BoG, which is the regulator of the banking industry and the SEC, which is the apex regulatory body in the securities market.
The lawmaker believes that Parliament’s engagement with the BoG and SEC would enable members better appreciate all the issues surrounding the bank’s Initial Public Offer (IPO) initiative.
“ADB alone should not come and tell us their own story and just live it like that. The regulating agencies must be part of this engagement exercise”, he added.
By: Stephen Odoi-Larbi/Kasapafmonline.com/Ghana
