GSE's Central Securities Depository merges with BoG's depository

The Central Securities Depository of the Ghana Stock Exchange has merged with Ghana's Central Securities Depository.   

The new name for the merged entity would be Ghana Securities Depository limited .

The Depository of the  Ghana Stock Exchange until the merger acted as "bank" for shares of investors on the local bourse.  

The  Depository for the Bank of Ghana on the other hand basically keeps the government bonds and securities in electronic form to aid easy transactions of these papers and securities .

At a  signing ceremony to seal the deal at the Bank of Ghana, Governor , Dr. Hennery Kofi Wampah  noted that  the capital market in Ghana is not big enough to be served by two depositories, hence the need to merge the two entities.

He was optimistic that the "marriage" would bring about more efficiency in the capital market and enhance investor interest.  

The Central Securities Depository GH Ltd was established in 2004 to manage the issue, redemption and maintain the records of ownership of securities issued by Government of Ghana, Bank of Ghana and the Ghana Cocobod.

The Central Securities Depository is wholly owned by the Bank of Ghana.

In 2008, the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) also established the GSE Securities Depository Company Limited (GSD) as a subsidiary to provide custody for securities listed on the Ghana Stock Exchange and also to provide for the dematerialization of share certificates.

The Ministry of Finance facilitated discussions since 2010 between the Bank of Ghana and the Ghana Stock Exchange towards a merger of the two subsidiaries. 

The Ministry of Finance facilitated discussions since 2010 between the Bank of Ghana and the Ghana Stock Exchange towards a merger of the two subsidiaries.

 A new Board of  Directors would be appointee to the two shareholders to manage the affairs of the company.

Mr. Stephen Tetteh  maintains his position as Chief Executive  while , Mrs. Melvian Amoafo  the current,  executive director  of GSE Securities Depository Company assumes the position of Deputy Chief Executive.

All staff of the GSE Securities Depository Company will be absorbed into the new company. The merged entity will handle securities listed and unlisted on the Ghana Stock Exchange as well as Government of Ghana and Bank of Ghana Instruments, Cooperate Bonds and Money Market Instruments.

It will also operate the registrar services under the licence granted by the Securities and Exchange Commission. 

The merger will make for a more efficient trading of fixed income and equity securities and reduce operational cost for the merged depository and lower transaction cost for market participants. It will also make the market more attractive to investors.

Investors will maintain only one account for their entire portfolio.

The resources of the shareholders, Bank of Ghana and Ghana Stock Exchange can be pooled together to build a state-of the-art infrastructure to modernise the operations of the depository.