Mr Osei Gyasi, Head of Banking Supervision Department of the Bank of Ghana (BoG) says the financial sector needs professionals with integrity in order to strengthen it.

He said one of the important activities within the banking space was financial reporting; stating that there were inaccurate reporting of financial performance of banks by some professionals.

He said these were some of the practices that led to the revocation of the banking license of some of the financial institutions; adding that, considering its implications some accountants and finance professionals would not be able to work in the banking space for the rest of their lives.

Mr Osei Gyasi said this in his presentation at the launch of the 2019 Faculty of Accounting and Finance (FAF) Professional Week Celebration at the University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA).

The week-long celebration is on the theme “Strengthening Ghana’s Financial Sector: The Role of the Accounting and Finance Professional”.

Mr Osei Gyasi said there were a number of initiatives to be rolled out, whereas, the implementation of Act 930 had resulted in some of things which had been witnessed in the banking sector; “it is one of the ways of strengthening the sector”.

He said BoG also issued the Corporate Governance Directive and that it was currently imparting on Directors of Banks, Boards, External Auditors and host of others, with the aim of ensuring that the Banking Sector was properly managed.

Mr Osei Gyasi recounted that the sector was moving forward and that only those who were prepared to play by rules would have space in the banking space.

He urged students to be mindful of their behaviours; stating that, otherwise, on a permanent basis they would be excluded in playing a role in the financial sector.

Dr Raymond K. Dziwornu, the Dean of FAF, UPSA, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency said in the past, there had been issues within the financial sector and accountants and finance professionals have been blamed for how they handled their various roles.

He said as an institution, they train accountants and other finance professionals, however, they have realized that moving forward, they had a role to play, particularly highlighting issues of integrity and issues of reporting.

He said the programme was put together with an objective of contributing to strengthening the financial sector; saying, no matter the reforms, the Central Bank puts up, those who were practicing at the various banks and institutions had a role to play.

The Dean said that they decided to draw on that to their students, to make sure that they recognized the role they have to play to support the regulator in strengthening the financial sector to make it more robust to achieve its intended purpose.

Dr Dziwornu said that after the launch of the week celebration, there would be a number of activities including its ‘FAF Professional Day’, which would run a seminar on job retention strategies and some performance management issues their students needed to be aware of.

Other programmes planned for the week include; sporting activities and job fair.

He said the week celebration would be climax with a Thanksgiving Service.

Source: GNA