The Supreme Court has temporarily halted the restoration of GN Savings and Loans Company Limited’s operating licence, suspending the effect of a Court of Appeal judgment while the apex court considers the substantive dispute.
The stay means the orders issued by the Court of Appeal in June cannot be implemented for now. Those orders had restored the licence and directed the receiver to return possession, management and control of the company’s assets and operations to its shareholders.
The Supreme Court’s intervention is an interim measure. It does not finally decide whether the Bank of Ghana lawfully revoked the licence or whether the Court of Appeal was correct to reverse the earlier High Court decision.
GN Bank Limited was reclassified as a savings and loans company on January 4, 2019 and renamed GN Savings and Loans Company Limited. On August 16 that year, the Bank of Ghana revoked its licence and appointed Eric Nana Nipah as receiver during the financial-sector clean-up.
Groupe Nduom, led by businessman Dr Papa Kwesi Nduom, challenged the action at the High Court. The company argued that the revocation violated its rights and sought to reverse the central bank’s decision.
The Bank of Ghana and the Attorney-General contested the action, including on jurisdictional grounds. They argued that disputes over the revocation of a banking licence should be handled through the applicable statutory or arbitration process rather than the human-rights procedure used by the applicants.
The High Court upheld the revocation. Justice Gifty Addo Adjei found that the applicants had not demonstrated that the company was solvent and able to meet its obligations when the licence was withdrawn.
The court also rejected allegations that the central bank acted unreasonably, maliciously or discriminatorily. It concluded that the regulator acted within its mandate in response to the company’s liquidity and governance problems.
GN Savings later appealed. In June 2026, a three-member Court of Appeal panel unanimously overturned the High Court judgment, restored the licence and ordered the receiver to return control to shareholders.
The latest Supreme Court order prevents that appellate outcome from taking effect until the higher court has determined the matters placed before it. A stay is commonly used to preserve the existing position and prevent potentially irreversible steps while an appeal remains active.
For customers, shareholders and creditors, the order means there is no immediate operational reopening based on the Court of Appeal judgment. The receiver’s position and control arrangements remain protected by the stay unless the Supreme Court varies its order.
The dispute carries broader regulatory importance. It concerns the limits of central-bank authority, procedural fairness in licence revocation and the remedies available when a financial institution challenges a regulatory decision.
It also reflects the continuing legal consequences of Ghana’s financial-sector clean-up. Years after licences were withdrawn, courts are still being asked to determine whether individual regulatory actions complied with law and administrative justice.
The interim order preserves the position that existed before the Court of Appeal’s restoration orders could be executed. It does not resolve the substantive legality of the Bank of Ghana’s 2019 decision.
GN Savings therefore remains unable to act on the restored licence or recover control of its assets under the appellate orders. That position will continue until the Supreme Court determines the pending issues or varies the stay.
