GCB reacts to Adongo's accusation of 'deception' over financial statements

GCB Bank Limited has refuted allegations that it is being deceitful in publishing its condensed consolidated and separate financial statements published on 31st May, 2018. 

According to the bank the statements were prepared in accordance with guidelines issued by the Bank of Ghana.

Below is a statement issued by the bank which explains its position.

GCB BANK RESPONDS

The Board and Management of GCB Bank Limited wish to draw the attention of stakeholders’ and the general public to a recent publication in the media which we deem to be misleading.

The heading “GCB Bank, stop the deception and publish your audited financial statements and annual report” is inappropriate. The word deception connotes a willful desire to mislead and to deceive.

The condensed consolidated and separate financial statements published on 31st May, 2018 were prepared in accordance with guidelines issued by the Bank of Ghana.

They have not in any way been described as the full audited financial statements of the bank.

It is important to note that there are differences between condensed and full audited financial statements and the annual audited financial statements.

The condensed set of financial statements is meant to present at a high level, salient features of the operational results of an entity whilst the audited financial statements present the full report of an entity’s operations.

The publication of financial statements in the newspapers is a requirement under the Banks and Specialized Deposit-taking Institutions Act 2016 (Act 930), and the regulator, Bank of Ghana, stipulates the manner in which financial statements should be presented.

The condensed consolidated and separate financial statements published by GCB Bank are in accordance with the regulator’s requirements.

The full set of annual financial statements have and will always be published in accordance with the applicable financial reporting framework and in a manner required by the IFRS, Companies Code 1963 Act 179 and Banks and Specialized Deposit-taking Institutions Act 2016 (Act 930).

GCB Bank did not under any circumstances rush to publish the condensed consolidated and separate financial statements. Yes there were delays in meeting the statutory deadline but the bank sought relevant approvals from the Central Bank, Securities and Exchange Commission and published the financial statements as soon as these became available.

The condensed consolidated and separate financial statements are a set of summaries or abridged financial statements. In other words, it is a summary of the audited annual financial statements with minimal disclosures and there was the need to differentiate these for the benefit of users.

The reference to the auditor’s report being qualified is unfortunate and misplaced. As stated earlier, the auditor’s report only made reference to the fact that the condensed consolidated and separate financial statements are abridged financial statements which may not necessarily include all the disclosures required to be made in the annual audited financial statements, a situation which is to be expected and therefore if any user wanted any such information there was the need to refer to the full audited financial statements for such details.

There are reasons and circumstances that form the basis on which an audit report is qualified. Unfortunately the release interpreted the reference to a document as a qualification. Indeed the audit opinion issued on the financial statements of the Bank for the year ended 2017 was unmodified.

We wish to state unequivocally that the Bank has complied with what is expected by the law and regulations.

GCB YOUR BANK FOR LIFE