By: Ashiadey Dotse
The Bank of Ghana (BoG) has issued a strong warning to banks, electronic money issuers, payment service providers, and money transfer operators over repeated violations of the country’s remittance and foreign exchange regulations.
In an official notice (BG/GOV/SEC/2025/20) dated July 29, 2025, the Central bank expressed concern that despite several reminders, some institutions continue to breach the Foreign Exchange Act, 2006 (Act 723), and the Updated Guidelines for Inward Remittance Services.
The violations cited include:
Terminating inward remittances through unapproved channels,
Conducting foreign exchange swaps linked to inward remittances,
Terminating remittances for institutions without BoG’s prior approval, and
Using foreign exchange rates not approved by the Bank.
The BoG has warned that it will take strict action against any institution found guilty of these infractions. This may include the cancellation of remittance partnerships with all non-compliant Money Transfer Operators (MTOs).
To ensure strict compliance, the Bank emphasized the following requirements:
1. Local Settlement Accounts must be funded strictly as outlined in section 7.1(c) of the Updated Guidelines for Inward Remittance Services;
2. All remittance disbursements must be made only from these Local Settlement Accounts, as stated in section 7.2(a);
3. Pre-funding arrangements between DEMIs/EPSPs and Settlement Banks must follow section 7.2(b) of the guidelines.
BoG directed all banks, Dedicated Electronic Money Issuers (DEMIs), and Enhanced Payment Service Providers (EPSPs) to submit weekly reports for each MTO. These reports must include daily inward remittance logs and the total foreign exchange amounts credited into their respective Nostro accounts.
BoG also stated that failure to submit accurate and timely reports, is a regulatory offense under Section 42 of the Payment Systems and Services Act (Act 987) and Section 93(3)(d) of the Banks and Specialised Deposit-Taking Institutions Act (Act 930). Offenders will face appropriate administrative sanctions.
