A youth group has raised red flag over the appointment of Rev. Daniel Ogbarmey Tetteh as the Director General of the Securities and Exchange Commission, a regulatory body for the country’s securities market.
Chief of Staff, Akosua Frema Osei-Opare in a letter dated August 9, 2017 announced a 11-member governing board for the Securities and Exchance Commission constituted by President Nana Akufo-Addo with Rev. Ogbarmey Tetteh as the Director General.
But his appointment, according to the Dynamic Youth Movement Ghana (DYMOG), has the potential to create a conflict of interest situation, unfair securities market and corruption considering his relationship with the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta.
“The appointment of Mr. Daniel Ogbarmey Tetteh as Director General of the regulatory body is a recipe for collusion, corruption and a threat to fairness-the most vital tenet in any securities market,” DYMOG said in a statement.
The group premised its argument on what it called “the industrial and friendly relationship” between Rev. Ogbarmey Tetteh and Mr Ofori-Atta whose company, Data Bank Ghana, the former served as Vice President.
DYMOG contended that Rev. Ogbarmey Tetteh has worked for the Finance Minister for over 16 years at Data Bank Group, a securities dealing company.
That, the group said, creates conducive environment for possible favouritism to Databank against other securities dealing companies, and that violations of the industry laws by Data Bank may not attract the sanctions they deserve.
It argued further that Rev. Ogbarmey’s appointment to the SEC could stifle competition in the securities market largely because he would impede new companies to the market “in an attempt to reduce competition” in favour of Data Bank.
Conflict of Interest
The group is also raising fears of a possible conflict of interest situation on the part of Rev. Ogbarmey on the basis that per the law, he is an automatic member of the mediation and conflict resolution body of SEC.
“As a matter of fact, the laws requires all petitions to be addressed first to the Director General and based on his judgement, the matter could be forwarded to the AHC or not.
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“If there is a conflict between Databank and any of its clients or partners, clearly Mr. Daniel Ogbarmey Tetteh will be found in a clear conflict of Interest scenario if a petition is brought before him,” the group contended.
Also the group said Rev Ogbarmey would kowtow to the Finance Minister who he is required by law to advice on issues of securities including the issuance of government bonds.
It has thus appealed to President Nana Akufo-Addo to withdraw the appointment of Rev. Ogbarmey Tetteh because the appointment “is a threat to fairness in the securities industry and worse off, a high possibility of collusion between Ken Ofori-Atta and Mr. Daniel Ogbarmey Tetteh when it comes to issuances of government bonds.”
By Stephen Kwabena Effah|3news.com|Ghana