BoG, SEC other regulators to set up Investor Protection Fund

Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) says the government is in the process of establishing an Investor Protection Fund to secure deposits.

It will be used to compensate and cushion investors who lose their investments to collapsed or distressed licensed operators.

“Investor Protection Fund, in fact, it is in many countries so that if an investor loses his money from a licensed operator we can go to the fund and use it to compensate that investor”, Head of Policy and Research at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Emmanuel Ashong-Katai said.

The Bank of Ghana, SEC and all licensed operators will be required to pool resources to feed the proposed this fund.

Bank of Ghana-office
“The Security and Exchange Commission, Bank of Ghana, government, are going to put some money into it, then all licensed operators will too put some money into it and then any income we derive from the investor like the fees, we are going take a little bit into it.

“So we are going to look at various sources of funds to create the fund for the protection of investors,” Mr Ashong-Katai revealed at a public lecture in Kumasi on Ponzi schemes.

Securities and Exchange Commission
Speakers at the lecture emphasised that both Ponzi and Pyramid schemes are dangerous to the investment sector in any country.

Incessant public outcry over locked up capital of innocent depositors and investors have been characterised by demand for state intervention in recent times.

The financial sector in Ghana has been hit recently by huge figures of locked up investments in schemes previously thought of as credible.

Mr Ashong-Katai says an Investor Protection Fund must address investor concerns.

“This year we are going to submit it to the ministry of finance who will table it to parliament to create the fund, legally speaking.”

“This means under this new fund, investors who will fall victim will be protected but Mr Ashong-Katai, explains only ordinary investors will benefit,” he said.

Types of Investors and who benefits
According to SEC official, the fund will recognise two types of investor categories, which are the qualified investors and ordinary investors.

Those who fall in the qualified investor categories are those who have investor knowledge like bankers, accountants and also institutional investors, like the pension fund and the rest.

Such persons don’t need protection because they know what they are doing; they know what risk is and what a good return on their risk is

Ordinary Ghanaian investors are those who don’t have what it takes to protect themselves and are unskilled understand better the financial ecosystem.

“These are the type of investors who will be protected under the Investor Protection Fund,” according to Mr Ashong-Katai.

The public lecture was organized by the Institute of Chartered Accountants Ghana.

Chief Executive, Kwasi Agyemang, explains continued financial education is critical to empower people from falling victim to fraud.

“As part of our mandate, we seek to educate the public on events and activities that affect our people, society. We felt that we need to bring the knowledge to the public and that is the reason and motivator to organise the lecture on Ponzi schemes”.

The public lecture will be replicated in other regions of the country.