GSE revokes licences of two companies

The Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) has revoked the licences of Liberty Securities Limited (LSL) and First Atlantic Brokerage Limited (FABL).

According to the GSE, the decision to expel the two companies was due to the various infractions with respect to rules of operations on the exchange.

A press statement issued by the GSE said LSL and FABL would not be able to execute trades on the market, provide advisory services to clients on capital market issues, and hold in lien or in trust clients’ accounts or their security holdings, in accordance to Rule 78 of the GSE Dealing Membership Rules.

Rule 78 of the GSE Dealing Membership Rules requires a member of the Exchange to comply with the prevailing requirements of the Securities and Exchange Commission in respect of capital, liquidity, reports and returns.

In the case of FABL, the regulator noted that, the company had operated without an Authorised Dealing Officer (ADO) for more than three months.

In addition, the company’s financial status showed a significant deterioration in its operations, resulting in successive negative returns which have eroded shareholders’ funds, the statement said.

The FABL is in breach of regulation 22 of the SEC Regulations, 2003 (L.I. 1728), which requires a Broker-Dealer to maintain at any given time, minimum liquid fund amounting to at least 20 per cent of the aggregate indebtedness of the Broker-Dealer, the statement added.

Similarly, LSL were found to be operating without an ADO for more than three months, contrary to Rule 6(j) of the GSE Dealing Membership Rules.

Moreover, they had low net shareholders’ fund balance and low liquidity position and had been inactive on the market due to the lack of ADO to execute trades.

For customers of the now defunct stock traders, the Exchange said procedures have been provided for them to transfer their security accounts and security holdings to any LDM of their choice.

The GSE had also provided a help desk or a correspondence officer to each LDM to respond to clients’ issues.

Source: Ghanaian Times