Fidelity Bank Ghana has responded to recent allegations made by Bright Simons regarding some purported ‘sweetheart’ exchange rate deals with the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG).
The Bank, in a statement noted, “Our attention has been drawn to Bright Simons’ publication on X where he alleged that ECG was “dishing out” 80 million Ghana Cedis for free to Fidelity Bank in “Sweetheart” Exchange rate deals.”
It stated categorically that the information is false and misleading indicating that it has not had any FX deal with ECG at a rate that is not in line with the prevailing market rate.
“Fidelity Bank Ghana Limited did source for foreign exchange on behalf of ECG in 2023, and the sources of the funds were from both the Bank of Ghana and the open market. Funds sourced from the Bank of Ghana by Fidelity Bank on behalf of ECG were sold to ECG at the same rate it was sourced, as per the Bank of Ghana requirements,” the bank noted in the statement.
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It said it has all records of transactions with ECG and would like to emphasize that no foreign exchange has ever been sold to ECG above the market rates. In some instances, these were sold significantly below the market rate, adding that all records were also available at the Central Bank and could be verified.
“We wish to state that owing to the false and misleading publication by Bright Simons and its negative impact on the bank, we have instructed our solicitors to demand the immediate retraction of the publication and an unqualified apology from the author, Bright Simons.
We have further instructed our solicitors to commence legal action against the author and all other persons who have published the said false statement, in the event that the author fails to comply with our demand.
“We hereby urge all persons, groups and media outlets to desist from further publishing the false statement as doing so may be legally actionable,” it mentioned.
It added, “We are dedicated to providing high-quality products/services and maintaining strong relationships with all stakeholders, and we encourage our customers to continue believing in us.”
On March 4, Bright Simons quizzed Fidelity Bank to supply the rate at which it sold its dollars to ECG. I explained the need for the bank to clarify with alacrity, citing a potential loss of billions of Ghana Cedis that should not be treated lightly with mere press releases.
Fidelity Bank of Ghana says that it sold all the dollars it bought from Bank of Ghana & the "open market" to ECG at the SAME RATE they were sourced. And that sometimes they sold BELOW MARKET RATE. The issue is simple: WHAT WAS THIS RATE?
Was it at the 13.95 ECG reported or not?😡 pic.twitter.com/YsaA8L0I0Q— Bright Simons (@BBSimons) March 4, 2024