The Supreme Court has halted the restoration of the operating licence of GN Savings and Loans Company Limited after granting an application by the Bank of Ghana (BoG) for a stay of execution pending the determination of an appeal.
The ruling temporarily suspends the enforcement of an earlier Court of Appeal judgment that overturned the revocation of the company’s licence and ordered the Receiver to hand over the firm’s assets, management and operations to its shareholders.
A five-member panel of the apex court, chaired by Chief Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie, held that there are substantial legal issues yet to be determined and that it was appropriate to stay the execution of the Court of Appeal’s decision until the substantive appeal is heard.
The latest order means GN Savings and Loans cannot enforce the Court of Appeal’s ruling or resume operations while the case remains before the Supreme Court.
The legal battle stems from a unanimous decision by the Court of Appeal in June 2026, which quashed a High Court judgment that had upheld the Bank of Ghana’s decision to revoke the company’s licence. The appellate court found that the revocation was unfair and unreasonable and subsequently ordered the Receiver to relinquish possession, management and control of the company’s assets and operations to its shareholders.
The central bank, however, challenged that decision at the Supreme Court, arguing that the Court of Appeal’s judgment should not be implemented until the final determination of its appeal. It subsequently filed an application seeking a stay of execution, which has now been granted.
The Supreme Court’s decision follows another development in June, when the Court of Appeal dismissed an application seeking to stay the execution of its own judgment directing the Receiver to hand over the company’s assets and management.
Background
The dispute dates back to Ghana’s banking sector clean-up exercise.
On January 4, 2019, GN Bank Limited was downgraded to a savings and loans institution and renamed GN Savings and Loans Company Limited. Seven months later, on August 16, 2019, the Bank of Ghana revoked the company’s operating licence and appointed Eric Nana Nipah as Receiver, citing insolvency and regulatory concerns.
That decision prompted Groupe Nduom, led by Dr Papa Kwesi Nduom, to challenge the revocation at the High Court in Accra, arguing that the central bank had acted unlawfully and violated the company’s constitutional rights.
The High Court, presided over by Justice Gifty Addo Adjei, dismissed the challenge, holding that the Bank of Ghana acted within its legal mandate. The court found that GN Savings and Loans had failed to demonstrate that it was solvent or capable of meeting its debt obligations at the time its licence was revoked.
Justice Addo Adjei further ruled that there was no evidence of discrimination or illegality in the central bank’s actions, concluding that the revocation was a reasonable response to the institution’s financial position and consistent with the broader banking sector reforms.
The company successfully appealed that decision, leading to the Court of Appeal’s ruling restoring its licence. However, the Supreme Court’s latest stay order has effectively suspended the implementation of that judgment until it delivers a final ruling on the matter.
The substantive appeal is expected to determine whether the Court of Appeal was right in overturning the High Court’s decision and whether GN Savings and Loans is entitled to the restoration of its operating licence.
