Finance Minister Inaugurates SEC Board

FINALLY, THE die has been cast as the board of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will be inaugurated today by the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Dr. Kwabena Duffuor.

This will end months of waiting, as the board will be expected by market watchers and investment analysts to quickly consider several applications lying on the corridors of the SEC.

14 applications are presently awaiting approval by the SEC and they include Rights Issues of CAL Bank, SG SSB and Ecobank, which are all expected to raise additional monies to meet the Bank of Ghana�s new minimum capital requirement of GH�60 million.

Four Initial Public Offers (IPOs) that are seeking to list on the capital market will also be considered and it includes the television operator, TV3.

The board members will act as commissioners of the SEC, and their presence is expected to help revive the dwindling fortunes of the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE), although it appears the Accra Bourse had started making some recoveries after the banking stocks appreciated consistently over the last few weeks.

The Ghana Commercial Bank and Ecobank are leading the banking stocks that are doing well lately.

The board is chaired by Professor E.V.O Dankwa, a legal luminary and counsel for Tsatsu Tsikata.

It also includes stalwarts such as Joe Aboagye Deborah, a former legal director of the GSE and securities analyst, Justice Margaret Insaidu Welbourne, Charles Asembri and Sena Bart-Plang, a former Director-General of the SEC.

Michael Cobblah, Country Manager of Ecobank Development Corporation (EDC) had earlier expressed satisfaction with the new board, saying �it will do a lot of good to the capital market.�

Mr. Cobblah further noted that the market will soon experience a positive performance as liquidity was expected to improve.

Collins Appiah, Head of Research, Gold Coast Securities also welcomed the new board and challenged them to work in earnest.

Source: Daily Guide