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Finance
this, the Bank of Ghana is undertaking reforms in the
legal, institutional, and infrastructural framework of
the payment system to make the Ghanaian financial
system modern and competitive. A draft bill known
as the Bills and Cheques Bill is now before Parlia-
ment. It is expected to replace the Bills of Exchange
Act when passed. The draft bill provides for elec-
tronic presentment of cheques and amends various
sections of the Bills of Exchange Act to bring it in line
with current business trends and practices.
National Biometric Switch
The Bank of Ghana introduced National Biometric
Smartcard (The E-ZWICH card). This is expected
to address the shortcomings of existing debit cards
which cater to only a small fraction of the population
because of its features of accessibility; low trans-
action costs; limited infrastructure needs; personal
safety; security; convenience; and simplicity.
Automatic Clearing House
The Bank of Ghana is introducing Codeline Cheque
Truncation to allow very fast cheque clearing as well
as the Automated Clearing House (ACH) for the
clearing of electronic debits and credits. The process
of direct debit does not exist presently in Ghana be-
cause of the absence of an ACH.
Central Securities
Depository
The Bank of Ghana has established a Central Secu-
rities Depository (CSD). The CSD makes it possible
for records of ownership of individual securities to
be maintained centrally as well as at the respective
primary dealers. This should reduce the risks to in-
vestors that arise from possible poor record-keeping
or any dealer malfeasance.
Ghana Interbank
Payment and
Settlement System
The Ghana Interbank Payments and Settlement
System (GHIPSS) is a limited liability company set
up to bring all the various aspects of the payments
system infrastructure under a single entity. This is to
allow more efficient and coherent management and
oversight. The business of GHIPSS includes the fol-
lowing:
• National Switch and Smart Card Services
• Cheque Clearing
• Codeline Cheque Truncation
• Real Time Gross Settlement System (RTGS)
• Central Securities Depository (CSD)
• Automated Clearing House (ACH)
All banks are required to be members of GHIPSS
either directly or through member banks. This means
that all banks have to be members of the national
switch and smartcard, ACH, RTGS, etc.
Credit Reporting Act
The Credit Reporting Act (Act 726) was enacted
in 2007 to enhance credit risk management by the
banking system. The purpose of the Act is to provide
a legal and regulatory framework for credit reporting
in Ghana. As at the end of 2009, two credit bureaux
had been licensed to begin operation.
Other Key Issues
Several bills have already been passed or are in
the process of being prepared. These include the
Anti-Money Laundering Bill, the Credit Union Bill,
the Insurance Bill, and a new Insolvency Bill (Bank-
ruptcy law). Work is also ongoing regarding the Bor-
rowers and Lenders and a new Non-Bank Financial
Intermediaries (NBFI) bills which are expected to be
passed in 2008. These reforms when implemented
would represent a major transformation of the finan-
cial services sector. The Passage of the Banking
Amendment Act, 2007 resulted in the issue of the
first offshore banking licence to Barclays Bank this
year.
Capital Markets
Investor confidence in Ghana’s capital market has
been on rise over the past decade. Currently, there
are about 27 listed companies, 10 brokerage firms, 5
mutual funds and 1 unit trust companies on the GSE.
A level playing ground has been set by the Securi-
ties and Exchange Commission (SEC) to protect the
interest of investors and all other parties.
Demutualisation
The objective to demutualise the Ghana Stock Ex-
change (GSE) stems from the current structural con-