Ghana’s Databank staff to work remotely for fear of attack by clients

Ghana’s leading investment bank, Databank Financial Services Limited, in which the Minister of Finance has an interest, has directed its staff to work remotely from Thursday, yesterday, until January 10, 2023, for fear of attacks by clients over the company’s inability to meet their cash withdrawal requests. Announcing the decision in a statement, Databank, co-founded […]

Ghana’s leading investment bank, Databank Financial Services Limited, in which the Minister of Finance has an interest, has directed its staff to work remotely from Thursday, yesterday, until January 10, 2023, for fear of attacks by clients over the company’s inability to meet their cash withdrawal requests.

Announcing the decision in a statement, Databank, co-founded by Ken Ofori-Atta, Minister of Finance, said that the current financial crisis facing the Ghanaian government has made it difficult for fund managers to sell their government securities.

This inability to sell meant fund managers could not get the necessary cash to pay withdrawal requests, it said, adding that in instances where bonds were sold, the sale was often done at a discount because the market value of bonds had fallen significantly.

“Many of our clients have tried to be patient with us as we wait for the Government to provide liquidity. For this, we are extremely grateful. However, there are several clients who have felt the need to abuse our staff physically and verbally, and also threaten their lives as well as their families. As such, we have no choice but to move to a work-from-home option,” Databank said in a statement dated December 21, directing the workers to begin working remotely yesterday.

It said the illiquidity in the financial markets worsened after the launch of the Debt Exchange Programme, which was announced by Ofori-Atta on December 5, 2022.

Ofori-Atta was Executive Chairman of Databank until 2012, when he resigned from the company. He was nominated as minister by President Nana Akufo Addo in January 2017.