GHANA Law and Practice Contributed by: Victoria Bright and Justice Oteng, Addison Bright Sloane
external companies (foreign companies operating in Ghana). • Regulatory compliance and audits – The Regis - trar conducts regular audits and checks to ensure compliance with Act 992. This includes verifying that companies adhere to their statutory obliga - tions, such as filing annual returns and financial statements. • Investigation and inquiries – Under Section 228 of Act 992, the Registrar has the power to issue written orders compelling companies to produce books for inspection and to initiate investigations into company affairs, whether on its own initiative or following complaints from members, directors or the courts. • Beneficial ownership monitoring – The ORC is mandated to maintain a Central Register captur - ing the beneficial ownership (BO) of legal entities to reduce risks of money laundering and terrorism financing. Companies must submit BO information to the Registrar within 28 days of registration or changes. • Appointment of officials – The Registrar is empow - ered to appoint inspectors, receivers or managers to ensure effective compliance, and to act as the official liquidator. • Name and record control – The Registrar has the discretion to refuse the registration of names deemed misleading or undesirable. They can direct a company to change its name and, in cases of default, unilaterally change the company’s name in the register. • Enforcement and penalties – The Registrar can impose administrative penalties on companies and officers for breaches of Act 992, such as failing to file annual returns, failing to hold annual general meetings (AGMs) or failing to notify the Registrar of changes in registered details. • Striking off and liquidation – The Registrar is responsible for striking the names of non-compli - ant or defunct companies off the register. 5.4 Global Anti-Money Laundering The negative impact of money laundering on the glob - al economy cannot be overlooked. Money laundering destabilises financial systems, distorts market prices and promotes criminal activities.
Many countries have established robust measures to curb money laundering activities, Ghana included. Companies in Ghana are subject to stringent Anti- Money Laundering (AML) reporting requirements, pri - marily governed by the Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2020 (Act 1044). These obligations are applied to accountable institutions, which include banks, finan - cial institutions, fintechs, mobile money operators, and designated non-financial businesses and profes - sions (DNFBPs). Currently, the regulatory environment focuses on effective, risk-based compliance, with reporting cen - tralised through the Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC). Thematic reporting requirements are as follows. • Suspicious transaction reports (STRs) – Any time a transaction is found to raise suspicion of ter - rorism financing or crime, or be very unusual, the designated or accountable institutions shall within 24 hours file suspicious transaction reports to the Financial Intelligence Centre through the official defined platforms. • Cash transaction reports (CTRs) – The Financial Intelligence Centre has set thresholds for manda - tory daily reporting for all cash transactions. For example GHS50,000 is set for the banking and securities sectors. For the insurance sector, cash transactions of GHS5,000 and above must be reported to the Financial Intelligence Centre. • Currency declaration report (CDR) – It is manda - tory for travellers to disclose physical cash, which must not exceed the limit at entry points, such as airports and borders, and must be reported. • Beneficial ownership disclosure – Companies must identify and disclose their ultimate beneficial own - ers to the ORC. • Compliance reporting – Financial institutions, on adhering to their regular reporting requirements, must submit regular compliance reports to their sector regulators (Bank of Ghana, Securities and Exchange Commission, etc). Local regulation in Ghana has a solid basis in the Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2020 (Act 1044), backed by guidelines from the Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC) and Bank of Ghana (BOG), placing the ultimate
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