Deepened stakeholder collaboration to sanitize forex bureau sector
The Bank of Ghana is urging stakeholders within the financial sector to step up their collaborative efforts to ensure that the forex bureau sector is sanitized of all deliberate market practices that are fueling the cedi’s continuous depreciation.
This, according to the Central Bank forms part of efforts to ensure the stability of the local currency.
Speaking at a sensitization workshop for members of the Committee for Co-operation between the Law Enforcement Agencies and Banking Community members in Accra, Second Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Elsie Addo-Awadzi highlighted the need for more to be done to ensure that forex bureaus do not flout the laws governing foreign exchange operations in the country.
“I strongly appeal to your good selves to support Bank of Ghana’s efforts to sanitize the forex bureau sector, by strictly enforcing existing rules for the fair and transparent conduct of business by licensed forex bureaus, and by clamping down on illegal forex operations (the so-called black market). While the Bank of Ghana regulates the sector, it relies on criminal investigative and law enforcement agencies (all of which are members of COCLAB) to help with enforcement efforts. We count on your cooperation especially now more than ever to help restore order and fair pricing to promote the Ghana cedi’s stability,” she said.
This comes at a time when many stakeholders have partly attributed the local currency’s struggles to some actions by some forex bureau operators.
The workshop is part of joint efforts by the Central Bank and Law Enforcement Agencies to deal with growing financial crimes in the banking industry.
The formation of COCLAB in Ghana was spearheaded by Bank of Ghana, building on INTERPOL’s 1988 Resolution, to help curb economic crime around the world.
The Bank of Ghana recently revived the Committee to provide a platform for strong collaboration among the banking industry, national security and law enforcement agencies, the Judiciary and other key Agencies, to step up the fight against financial crime.