The Ghana Association of Banks (GAB), Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) and the Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC) and the held deliberations at the GAB offices in Accra on Tuesday, February 7, 2023
The meeting was to discuss operational matters with the objective to improve overall service delivery in the financial sector in line with the legal and regulatory regimes and also in compliance with international best practices.
According to the CEO of the GAB, John Awuah, the meeting was also to find proper ways of working to improve the mandate of EOCO, FIC and the banking sector as a whole. This, he added, can only be achieved if there exists effective ways of collaboration. He concluded that the common goal for stakeholders present was to flush out criminals and take the profit out of criminal activities.
The Executive Director of EOCO, COP Maame Yaa Tiwaa Addo-Danquah taking her turn said that she was grateful to GAB for playing their part in making the meeting a reality. She said that it was a great opportunity for all parties involved to speak on the challenges they encounter while working in the financial ecosystem. She added that investigations and prosecutions are largely based on evidence without which it will be difficult for EOCO to fulfill its mandate. There is therefore the need for all stakeholders to work seamlessly to gather solid evidence in order to secure more convictions and recover the proceeds of crime.
Moving on from the deliberations, head IT at FIC noted that the meeting was long overdue and therefore thanked EOCO for convening this all important meeting. He added that it was not to down play or criticize any party’s work but rather to build on the good and find solutions to the deficiencies that exist.
The Executive Director of EOCO assured all stakeholders present that their concerns are well received and that steps will be taken to address them.
Present at the meeting were representatives of all the banks across the country and some management members of EOCO, FIC and GAB.