Coalition calls for inclusion of Blackshield Capital in bailout

Members of the Coalition of Aggrieved Customers of the Collapsed 50 Fund Management Companies (FMCs) have described the basis on which the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) excluded Blackshield Capital Limited (formerly Gold Coast Management Fund) from the intended government bailout package as false and inaccurate.

The group insists that contrary to claims by the SEC, the latter had full access to the information needed on the defunct company to include its customers in the bailout package.

“We consider the reason cited by SEC to exclude GCFM customers from the payment package as a deliberate ploy by the government to divert the attention of the unsuspecting public for neglecting its responsibility to innocent Ghanaian customers who have fallen victim to the government’s poor handling of the financial sector clean-up exercise it initiated,” the Public Relation Officer of the group, Mr Charles Nyame, said at a press conference in Accra yesterday.

SEC’s position

The SEC, in a press release dated August 28, this year, said initially it had access to only three per cent of client data of Blackshield Capital, alleging that the company only provided an Excel data representing about three per cent of claims filed by its clients.

“Blackshield Capital initially failed to assist in locating the server for the validation of the remaining 97 per cent of claims till the intervention of law enforcement agencies; validation is ongoing,” it said.

According to the SEC, as of last Wednesday, August 26, this year, 98,820 claims, valued at GH¢10.83 billion, had been received against 47 of the companies, with the remaining three having no claims against them.

The claims include GH¢4.65 billion filed against Blackshield Capital by 82,204 clients, representing 42.93 per cent of the total value of claims and 83.18 per cent of the clients.

Access to client information

However, Mr Nyame said a rejoinder issued by Blackshield on August 30, this year indicated that SEC had full access to its clients’ information on three different occasions.

He indicated that the first time was during the forensic audit it commissioned in 2019, during which the management of the company gave PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Ghana access to all its books and clients’ information.

The second time was prior to the revocation of Blackshield’s licence when it made a proposal for alternate products for its customers, which was refused by the SEC, he said.

“The third was when the SEC took control of all offices of Blackshield, which control it still has till date, since the revocation of Blackshield’s licence,” he added.

Mr Nyame, therefore, stressed that the claim by SEC that Blackshield had submitted data capable of verifying only three per cent of claims filed by customers was “an absolute falsehood which was intended to blame its inability on the company”.

About 82,204 clients have made claims valued at GH¢4.65 billion against Blackshield, representing 42.93 per cent of the total value of claims against 47 FMCs and 83.18 per cent of all the clients making claims.

SEC's statement on Blackshield misleading - Groupe Nduom

Challenge in court

At yesterday’s press conference, Mr Nyame also refuted SEC’s claim that Blackshield was in court contesting the revocation and, therefore, making it difficult for the Registrar General, the official liquidator, to secure a liquidation order.

“We consider this reason as very misleading and deceptive, especially when we are aware that some banks and savings and loans companies were in court, yet their customers were paid their money when the government issued a bailout for customers in that sector,” he stressed.

The PRO said it was, therefore, “unconscionable how the government and the SEC could decide to apply the rules differently in our case”.

The decision by the government and the SEC, he said, was mischievous, especially when the government was aware that the courts were on a legal vacation and would only resume in November this year.

Reconsider decision

“We, hereby, call on the government and the SEC to rethink their decision and include customers of Blackshield in the bailout package, since advancing a bailout would not amount to an interference in the court process between the regulator and Blackshield,” he stressed.

Threat

Mr Nyame said to further drive home their request, members of the coalition would embark on a massive demonstration this month and also vote against the New Patriotic Party (NPP) if they were not considered for payment.

“If the Nana Akufo-Addo-led government really cares about the suffering of the customers, then he should put in measures to fix the situation before September, else we will embark on a massive demonstration in September,” he said, and indicated that the coalition was already in talks with the security services for that planned action.

“We are fed up with the devious acts by the government in its attempt to withhold payment. We are dying and we want our money to be paid as soon as possible, else we will vote against President Akufo-Addo in the upcoming 2020 elections,” he added.