EXCHANGE CONTROL ACT - 1961 (ACT 71)
-
-
For the avoidance of doubt, it is hereby declared that unless otherwise authorised by the Secretary responsible for Finance no Ghana resident shall receive in Ghana any external currency as payment for services rendered or for the sale of goods or property by him or as rent in respect of any property owned by him. [As inserted by Exchange Control (Amendment) Law 1986, PNDCL 149 s 1(a)].
-
-
(1) For the avoidance of doubts, it is hereby declared that section 1(2) of the Exchange Control Act, 1961 (Act 71) prohibits any person resident in Ghana (other than an authorised dealer) from buying foreign currency from any visitor to Ghana.
(2) The penalties for a contravention of section 1(2) of the Exchange Control Act, 1961 (Act 71) are as specified in Part II of the Fourth Schedule to that Act. [Inserted and to be cited as Exchange Control (Amendment) Decree, 1973 (NRCD 220), s. 1].
-
-
(1) Except in such circumstances as may be prescribed, every Ghana resident, not being the Bank of Ghana or an authorised dealer, who (apart from restrictions imposed by or under this Act) is entitled to sell, or to procure the sale of, any gold or any external currency shall be under a duty to offer the gold or currency, or cause it to be offered, for sale to an authorised dealer.
(2) Where a person has become bound under this section to offer or cause to be offered any gold or currency for sale to an authorised dealer, he shall not be deemed to comply with that obligation by any offer made or caused to be made by him, if the offer is an offer to sell at a price exceeding that authorised by the Bank of Ghana, or without payment of any usual and proper charges of the authorised dealer, or otherwise on any unusual terms.
(3) Where a person has become bound under this section to offer or cause to be offered any gold or currency for sale to an authorised dealer and has not complied with that obligation, the Minister may direct that that gold or currency shall vest in the Minister, and it shall vest accordingly free from any mortgage, pledge or charge, but the Minister shall pay to the person who would but for the direction be entitled to the gold or currency such sum as he would have received therefor if he had sold it to an authorised dealer in pursuance of an offer made under this section at the time when the vesting occurred.
(4) An external currency draft shall be treated for the purposes of this Act as itself being external currency.
(5) In any proceedings in respect of a failure to comply with the provisions of this section, it shall be presumed, until the contrary is shown, that the gold or currency in question has not been offered for sale to an authorised dealer.
(6) The Bank of Ghana may direct a person such as is mentioned in subsection (1) of this section (whether or not he is subject to the duty thereby imposed) to cause the gold or currency in question, being gold held in Ghana or currency in the form of notes or an external currency draft held in Ghana, to be kept in the custody of such banker as is specified in the direction.
-
-
(1) Except in such circumstances as may be prescribed, every Ghana resident by whom or to whose order (whether directly or indirectly) and gold or any external currency in the form of notes or an external currency draft is held in Ghana, but who is not (even apart from restrictions imposed by or under this Act) entitled to sell it or procure its sale, shall be under a duty to notify the Bank of Ghana in writing that he so holds it.
(2) The Bank of Ghana may direct a person such as is mentioned in the preceding subsection (whether or not he is subject to the duty thereby imposed) to cause the gold or currency in question to be kept in the custody of such banker as is specified in the direction.
-
-
(1) Except in such circumstances as may be prescribed, no person or individual shall do any of the following in Ghana-
(a) make a payment to, or for the credit of, an external resident;
(b) make a payment to, or for the credit of, a Ghana resident where the payment is by order or on behalf of an external resident;
(c) place any sum to the credit of an external resident:
Provided that where an external resident has paid a sum in or towards the satisfaction of a debt due from him, paragraph (c) of this subsection shall not prevent the acknowledgement or recording of the payment.
(2) Except in circumstances as may be prescribed, no person or individual shall make a payment in external currency to or for the credit of a Ghana resident for services rendered by him or for the purchase of or in exchange for goods or property, or for the settlement of rent in respect of any property, owned by such Ghana resident. [As Substituted by Exchange Control (Amendment) Law, 1986, PNDCL 149 s 1(b)].
Except in such circumstances as may be prescribed, no person shall do any of the following in Ghana-
(a) make a payment to, or for the credit of, an external resident;
(b) make a payment to, or for the credit of, a Ghana resident where the payment is by order or on behalf of an external resident;
(c) place any sum to the credit of an external resident:
Provided that where an external resident has paid a sum in or towards the satisfaction of a debt due from him, paragraph (c) of this section shall not prevent the acknowledgement or recording of the payment.
-
-
-
Except in such circumstances as may be prescribed, no person shall in Ghana, and no Ghana resident shall outside Ghana, make any payment to or for the credit of a Ghana resident as consideration for or in association with-
(a) the receipt by any person of a payment made outside Ghana, or the acquisition by any person of property which is outside Ghana, or
(b) the transfer to any person, or the creation in favour of any person, of a right (whether present or future, and whether vested or contingent) to receive a payment outside Ghana or to acquire property which is outside Ghana.
-
-
(1) Except in such circumstances as may be prescribed, no person shall import any of the following-
(a) gold;
(b) a certificate of title to a security, including any such certificate which has been cancelled;
(c) a document certifying the destruction, loss or cancellation of a certificate of title to a security.
(2) Regulations may prohibit or restrict the import of currency notes of such description as is specified in the regulations.
-
-
(1) Except in such circumstances as may be prescribed, no person shall export any of the following-
(a) currency notes;
(b) postal orders;
(c) gold;
(d) a document of any of the following descriptions, including any such document which has been cancelled and any document certifying the destruction, loss or cancellation of any such document-
(2) Regulations may prohibit or restrict the export of further articles if carried on the person of a traveller or in his baggage.
-
-
(1) Except in such circumstances as may be prescribed, no person shall export goods of any description unless-
(a) payment for the goods has been made in the prescribed manner to a Ghana resident, or is to be so made not later than six months after the date of exportation; and
(b) the amount of the payment that has been made or is to be made is such as to represent a return for the goods which is in all the circumstances satisfactory in the interest of Ghana:
Provided that the Minister may direct that, in cases to which the direction applies, paragraph (a) of this subsection shall have effect as if for the reference to six months there were substituted a reference to such shorter period as may be specified in the direction, or as if the words "or is to be so made not later than six months after the date of exportation" were omitted.
(2) Where the preceding subsection applies, the Comptroller of Customs may require the person making entry of any goods for export to deliver to the collector or other proper officer together with the entry such declarations as to the matters specified in that subsection as the Comptroller may require, and where any such declaration has been so required the goods shall not be exported until it has been delivered as aforesaid.
(3) Where the Comptroller of Customs is not satisfied in the case of any goods as to the matters specified in paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of this section, he shall give his reasons to the person making entry of the goods for export and shall take into consideration any representations made by him.
-
-
-
(1) Except with the consent of the Minister, no person shall in Ghana issue any security or, whether in Ghana or elsewhere, issue any security which is registered or to be registered in Ghana, unless that person is satisfied by means of a declaration in writing signed by or on behalf of the person to whom the security is to be issued that the latter person is not an external resident and is not acquiring the security as the nominee of an external resident.
(2) The subscription by, or by a nominee for, an external resident of the memorandum of association of a company to be formed under the Companies Ordinance (Cap. 193) shall, unless he subscribes the memorandum with the permission of the Bank of Ghana, be invalid in so far as it would on registration of the memorandum have the effect of making him a member of or shareholder in the company:
Provided that this provision shall not render invalid the incorporation of the company, but if by virtue of this subsection the number of the subscribers of the memorandum who on its registration become members of the company is less than the minimum number required to subscribe the memorandum, the provisions of the said Ordinance relating to the carrying on of business of a company the number of whose members is reduced below the legal minimum shall nevertheless apply.
-
-
(1) Except with the consent of the Bank of Ghana, a security registered in Ghana shall not be transferred, and a security not so registered shall not be transferred in Ghana, if either the transferor or the transferee, or any person for whom either of them is or is to be a nominee, is an external resident:
Provided that no person shall be deemed to have committed an offence by reason only that the requirements of this subsection were not fulfilled unless he knew or had reason to believe that those requirements were not fulfilled.
(2) Except with the consent of the Bank of Ghana, a security not registered in Ghana shall not be transferred outside Ghana if the transferor or the transferee, or any person for whom either of them is or is to be a nominee, is a Ghana resident.
(3) Except with the consent of the Bank of Ghana, no coupon shall be transferred-
(a) in Ghana, if the transferee or the person, if any, for whom he is to be a nominee is an external resident;
(b) outside Ghana, if the transferor or the transferee, or any person for whom either of them is or is to be a nominee, is a Ghana resident.
-
-
Except with the consent of the Bank of Ghana, no person shall, in Ghana, and no Ghana resident shall, outside Ghana,
issue any bearer certificate or coupon or so alter any document that it becomes a bearer certificate or coupon.
-
-
Except with the consent of the Bank of Ghana, no person shall, in Ghana, and no Ghana resident shall, outside Ghana, do any act with intent to secure-
(a) that a security which is-
(i) registered in Ghana; or
(ii) transferable by means of a bearer certificate in Ghana,
becomes, or is replaced by, a security registered outside Ghana or a security transferable by means of a bearer certificate outside Ghana; or
(b) that a certificate of title to any other security is issued outside Ghana in substitution for or in addition to a certificate of title thereto which is in, or is or has been lost or destroyed in, Ghana.
-
-
Except with the consent of the Bank of Ghana, no Ghana resident shall do any act with intent to secure that capital moneys payable on a security registered in Ghana are paid outside Ghana, or that, where the certificate of title to a security is in Ghana, capital moneys payable on the security are paid outside Ghana without production of the certificate to the person making the payment.
-
-
(1) Except with the consent of the Bank of Ghana, no person concerned with the keeping of any register in Ghana shall-
(a) enter in the register the name of any person in relation to any security unless there has been produced to him evidence in accordance with the following subsection that the entry does not form part of a transaction which involves the doing of anything prohibited by this Act; or
(b) enter in the register, in respect of any security, an address outside Ghana, except for the purpose of any transaction for which the consent of the Bank of Ghana has been granted with the knowledge that it involved the entry of that address; or
(c) do any act in relation to the register which recognises or gives effect to any act appearing to him to have been done with such intent as is mentioned in the two last preceding sections, whether done by a person in or resident in Ghana or not.
(2) The evidence required for the purposes of paragraph (a) of the preceding subsection-
(a) in the case of the issue of securities, is a declaration in writing, signed by or on behalf of the person to whom the security is to be issued, that the person to whom the security is to be issued is not an external resident and is not acquiring the security as the nominee of an external resident;
(b) in the case of the transfer of securities, is a declaration in writing, signed by an authorised depositary, that the holder of the security is not an external resident and is not holding the security as the nominee of an external resident, together with a declaration in writing, signed by an authorised depositary, that the transferee is not an external resident and is not acquiring the security as the nominee of an external resident;
(c) in the case of the registration of securities transferable by means of bearer certificates, is a declaration in writing, signed by an authorised depositary, that the person to whom the security is to be issued is not an external resident and is not acquiring the security as the nominee of an external resident.
-
-
(1) This and the next following section apply to any security except-
(a) a security which is registered in Ghana otherwise than in a subsidiary register, and on which none of the dividends or interest is payable on presentment of a coupon; and
(b) any such other security as may be prescribed,
and in the following provisions of this section and in the next following section the expressions "security", "certificate of title" and "coupon" mean respectively a security to which the said sections apply, a certificate of title to such a security, and a coupon representing dividends or interest on such a security.
(2) It shall be the duty of every person by whom or to whose order (whether directly or indirectly) a certificate of title is held in Ghana, and of every Ghana resident by whom or to whose order (whether directly or indirectly) a certificate of title is held outside Ghana, to cause the certificate of title to be kept at all times, except with the consent of the Bank of Ghana, in the custody of an authorised depositary, and nothing in this Part of this Act shall prohibit the doing of anything for the purpose of complying with the requirements of this subsection.
(3) Except with the consent of the Bank of Ghana, an authorised depositary shall not part with any certificate of title or coupon required under this section to be in the custody of an authorised depositary:
Provided that this subsection shall not prohibit an authorised depositary-
(a) from parting with a certificate of title or coupon to or to the order of another authorised depositary, where the person from whom the other authorised depositary is to receive instructions in relation thereto is to be the same as the person from whom he receives instructions;
(b) from parting with a certificate of title, for the purpose of obtaining payment of capital moneys payable on the security, to the person entrusted with payment thereof;
(c) from parting with a coupon in the ordinary course for collection.
(4) Except with the consent of the Bank of Ghana, no capital moneys, interest or dividends shall be paid in Ghana on any security except to or to the order of an authorised depositary having the custody of the certificate of title to that security, so, however, that this subsection shall not be taken as restricting the manner in which any sums lawfully paid on account of the capital moneys, interest or dividends may be dealt with by the person receiving them.
(5) Except with the consent of the Bank of Ghana, an authorised depositary shall not do any act whereby he recognises or gives effect to the substitution of one person for another as the person from whom he receives instructions in relation to a certificate of title or coupon, unless he is satisfied that neither person is, or is the nominee of, an external resident.
(6) Where a certificate of title which under this section should for the time being be in the custody of an authorised depositary is not in the custody of an authorised depositary, then, except with the consent of the Bank of Ghana, no person shall in Ghana, and no Ghana resident shall outside Ghana, buy, sell, transfer, or do anything which affects his rights or powers in relation to, the security.
(7) Except with the consent of the Bank of Ghana, no person shall in Ghana, and no Ghana resident shall outside Ghana, detach any coupons from a certificate of title with coupons (whether attached or on separate coupon sheets), otherwise than in the ordinary course for collection.
-
-
(1) Where a certificate of title to a security is by the preceding section required to be and is in the custody of an authorised depositary, the provisions of this section shall, except so far as the Bank of Ghana otherwise directs, have effect in relation thereto unless-
(a) the authorised depositary is satisfied that the security is owned by a Ghana resident; and
(b) in the case of a certificate of title which-
(i) would ordinarily be accompanied by coupons (whether attached or on separate coupon sheets); but
(ii) when it comes into the custody of the authorised depositary wants, in order to render it complete, any coupons which would not in the ordinary course have been detached for collection,
there have also been deposited with him the coupons so wanting at the time when the certificate of title comes into his custody.
(2) Except with the consent of the Bank of Ghana, the authorised depositary shall not part with or destroy the certificate of title or any coupons belonging thereto, otherwise than as mentioned in paragraphs (b) and (c) of the proviso to subsection (3) of section 19 of this Act, or do any act whereby he recognises or gives effect to the substitution of one person for another as the person from whom he receives instructions in relation thereto:
Provided that, where the person from whom an authorised depositary receives instructions in relation to any certificate of title dies or becomes subject to the Ghana law of insolvency, this subsection shall not prohibit the authorised depositary from recognising the person charged with administering his assets as the person entitled to give instructions in relation to the certificate of title.
(3) The authorised depositary shall place any capital moneys, dividends or interest on the security received by him to the credit of the person by virtue of whose authority he received them, but shall not permit any part of the sums received to be dealt with except with the consent of the Bank of Ghana.
-
-
(1) The title of any person to a security for which he has given value on a transfer thereof, and the title of all persons claiming through or under him, shall, notwithstanding that the transfer, or any previous transfer, or the issue of the security, was by reason of the residence of any person concerned other than the first-mentioned person prohibited by the provisions of this Act relating to the transfer or issue of securities, be valid unless the first-mentioned person had notice of the facts by reason of which it was prohibited.
(2) Without prejudice to the provisions of subsection (1) of this section, the Bank of Ghana may issue a certificate declaring, in relation to a security, that any acts done before the issue of the certificate purporting to effect the issue or transfer of the security, being acts which were prohibited by this Act, are to be, and are always to have been, as valid as if they had been done with the consent of the competent authority, and the said acts shall have effect accordingly.
(3) Nothing in this section shall affect the liability of any person to prosecution for any offence against this Act.
-
-
(1) This Part of this Act shall apply, with such modifications (if any) as may be prescribed, in relation to any such document as is mentioned in the following subsection, as if the document created, and were the certificate of title to, a security (hereafter in this Act referred to as a "secondary security").
(2) The documents referred to in the preceding subsection are any letter of allotment which may be renounced, any letter of rights, any warrant conferring an option to acquire a security, any deposit certificate in respect of securities (but not including a receipt by an authorised depositary for any certificate of title deposited in pursuance of this Part of this Act), and such other documents conferring, or containing evidence of, rights as may be prescribed.
-
-
(1) In this Part of this Act-
"register" includes any book, file or index in which securities are registered;
"registered" includes inscribed;
"registered in Ghana" and "registered outside Ghana" mean respectively, registered in a register in, and registered in a register outside, Ghana;
"security which is registered in Ghana otherwise than in a subsidiary register" means a security which either-
(a) is registered in Ghana and is not, and cannot without the necessity for an entry in the register in Ghana become, registered outside, or
(b) is registered both in Ghana and outside but on a transfer cannot, without the necessity for an entry in the register in Ghana, become registered outside in the name of the transferee.
(2) For the purposes of any provision of this Part of this Act prohibiting the transfer of securities, a person shall be deemed to transfer a security if he executes any instrument of transfer thereof, whether effective or not, and shall be deemed to transfer it at the place where he executes the instrument.
(3) References in this Part of this Act to the person holding a certificate of title or coupon shall be construed as references to the person having physical custody of the certificate of title or coupon:
Provided that where the certificate of title or coupon is deposited with any person in a locked or sealed receptacle from which he is not entitled to remove it without the authority of some other person, that other person shall be deemed for the purposes of this provision to have the physical custody thereof.
(4) In this Part of this Act, "holder"-
(a) in relation to a security transferable by means of a bearer certificate or to a coupon, includes the person holding the certificate or coupon; and
(b) in relation to a security which is registered in the name of a deceased person, or of any person who, by reason of insolvency, unsoundness of mind or any other disability is incapable of transferring the security, means the personal representative or other person entitled to transfer the security.
(5) The holder of a security or coupon shall be deemed for the purposes of this Part of this Act to be a nominee in respect thereof if, as respects the exercise of any rights in respect thereof, he is not entitled to exercise those rights except in accordance with instructions given by some other person, and references in this Part of this Act to the person for whom the holder of a security or coupon is a nominee shall be construed as references to the person who is entitled to give instructions, either directly or through the agency of one or more persons, as to the exercise of any rights in respect of the security or coupon and is not in so doing himself under a duty to comply with instructions given by some other person:
Provided that-
(a) a person shall not by reason only that he has a controlling interest in a body corporate be deemed for the purposes of this subsection to be entitled to give instructions to that body corporate as to the exercise of rights in respect of any security or coupon of which it is the holder; and
(b) a person shall not be deemed to hold a security or coupon as a nominee by reason only that he holds it as trustee if he is entitled to transfer the security or coupon without permission from any other person.
(6) A certificate of title shall not for the purposes of this Part of this Act be treated as in the custody of an authorised depositary if either-
(a) the depositary has no notice of the nature of the certificate; or
(b) the certificate is deposited with him in a locked or sealed receptacle from which he is not entitled to remove it without the authority of some other person.
(7) Where a certificate of title outside Ghana is by this Part of this Act required to be kept in the custody of an authorised depositary, it shall be deemed to be in the custody of an authorised depositary if-
(a) by his direction or with his assent it is in the custody of some other person who holds it on behalf of and to the order of the authorised depositary; and
(b) the certificate is not deposited with that other person in a locked or sealed receptacle from which he is not entitled to remove it without the authority of a person other than himself;
and where a certificate of title is by virtue of this subsection deemed to be in the custody of an authorised depositary, references in this Part of this Act to the depositary parting with the certificate or a coupon belonging thereto shall be construed as references to his permitting the person having the actual custody thereof to part with it otherwise than to the depositary, and references to his destroying the certificate or such a coupon shall be construed as references to his permitting it to be destroyed.
-
-
(1) Except with the consent of the Bank of Ghana, no Ghana resident who has a right (whether present or future and whether vested or contingent) to receive any external currency, or to receive from an external resident a payment in Ghana currency, shall do any act with intent to secure-
(a) that the receipt by him of the whole or part of that currency is delayed; or
(b) that the currency ceases, in whole or in part, to be receivable by him:
Provided that nothing in this subsection-
(i) shall, unless the Bank of Ghana otherwise directs, impose on any person an obligation, in relation to a debt arising in the carrying on of any trade or business, to procure the payment thereof at an earlier time than is customary in the course of that trade or business; or
(ii) shall, unless the Bank of Ghana otherwise directs, prohibit any transfer to a person resident in Ghana and not elsewhere of any right to receive external or Ghana currency.
(2) Where a person has contravened the provisions of subsection (1) of this section in relation to any currency, the Minister may give to him or to any other person who appears to the Minister to be in a position to give effect thereto (being a person in or resident in Ghana) such directions as appear to the Minister to be expedient for the purpose of obtaining or expediting the receipt of the currency in question, and, without prejudice to the generality of the preceding provisions of this subsection, may direct that there shall be assigned to the Minister, or to such person as may be specified in the directions, the right to receive the currency or enforce any security for the receipt thereof.
-
-
(1) Where-
(a) any consent has been granted under this Act subject to a condition providing that, or on the faith of an application stating an intention that, any goods should be sold outside Ghana; or
(b) any statement or declaration has been made under this Act that any goods are to be sold outside Ghana; or
(c) any currency has been obtained in Ghana, or by any Ghana resident, on the faith of an application stating an intention that any goods should be sold outside Ghana,
then, except with the consent of the Bank of Ghana, no Ghana resident who is entitled to sell or procure the sale of the said goods shall do any act with intent to secure-
(i) that the said sale is delayed to an extent which is unreasonable having regard to the ordinary course of trade; or
(ii) that, on the said sale, any payment made for the goods is not made in the manner indicated by the condition, statement, or declaration, as the case may be.
(2) Where-
(a) any consent has been granted under this Act, subject to a condition providing that, or on the faith of an application stating an intention that, any goods should be imported; or
(b) any currency has been obtained in Ghana, or by any Ghana resident, on the faith of an application stating an intention that any goods should be imported,
then, except with the consent of the Bank of Ghana, no Ghana resident who is entitled to procure the importation of the said goods shall do any act with intent to secure that the importation thereof is delayed to an extent which is unreasonable having regard to the ordinary course of trade.
(3) Where in any such case as is specified in paragraph (a), (b) or (c) of subsection (1), or paragraph (a) or (b) of subsection (2), of this section-
(a) the goods have not been sold or imported as indicated by the condition, statement or declaration within the time thereby indicated or, if no time is thereby indicated, a reasonable time, or (in either case) within such further time as may be allowed by the Minister; or
(b) it appears to the Minister that the goods cannot be sold or imported as indicated by the condition, statement or declaration,
the Minister may give to any Ghana resident who appears to the Minister to be in a position to give effect thereto such directions as appear to the Minister to be expedient as to the manner in which the goods are to be dealt with.
(4) Without prejudice to the generality of the provisions of the last preceding subsection, the power conferred thereby on the Minister to give directions shall extend to the giving of directions that the goods shall be assigned to the Minister or to a person specified in the directions.
(5) The powers conferred by the two last preceding subsections in relation to any goods shall extend to the giving of directions with respect to any goods produced or manufactured therefrom, and, where goods to be sold outside Ghana or to be imported were to be produced or manufactured from other goods, to the giving of directions with respect to those other goods and any goods produced or manufactured from those other goods.
-
-
(1) Where a person-
(a) has made any payment which is prohibited by this Act; or
(b) being bound under this Act to offer or cause to be offered any gold or currency to an authorised dealer, has otherwise disposed of that gold or currency,
the Minister may direct him to sell or procure the sale of any property which he is entitled to sell or of which he is entitled to procure the sale, being property which represents, whether directly or indirectly, that payment or that gold or currency, as the case may be, and may by the same or a subsequent direction specify the manner in which, the persons to whom and the terms on which the property is to be sold.
(2) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1) of this section, the power conferred thereby to give directions shall extend to the giving of directions that the property shall be assigned to the Minister or to a person specified in the directions.
-
-
(1) Where, under the preceding provisions of this Part of this Act, the Minister has power to give directions that any right to receive any currency or to enforce any security for the receipt thereof, any goods, or any other property shall be assigned to the Minister, the Minister shall also have power to direct that the right, goods or property shall vest in the Minister, and it or they shall vest accordingly free from any mortgage, pledge or charge, and the Minister may deal with it or them as he thinks fit.
(2) Where, in pursuance of directions under the said provisions, any right, goods or property is or are assigned to the Minister or to a person specified in the directions, or any right, goods or property vests or vest in the Minister in pursuance of directions given under subsection (1) of this section, the Minister shall pay the net sum recovered by him in respect of the right, goods or property to the person making the assignment or, in the case of any right, goods or property vested in the Minister under subsection (1) of this section, to the person who, but for the directions, would be entitled to the right, goods or property.
-
-
(1) Except with the consent of the Bank of Ghana, no Ghana resident shall transfer to an external resident or a person who is to be a nominee for an external resident, any right to the sums assured by any policy of assurance, so, however, that where the person liable for the sums so assured makes any payment thereof to a person resident in Ghana and not elsewhere, or makes, with the permission of the Bank, any payment thereof to any other person,-
(a) he shall not be bound to inquire as to the residence of any person other than the person to whom, and (if it is not the same person) the person to whose order, the payment is made; and
(b) the payment shall, to the extent of the sums paid, discharge him from his liability under the policy, notwithstanding that the payment is made to or to the order of a person who was not entitled thereto otherwise than by virtue of a transfer prohibited by this subsection.
(2) Subsections (2) and (3) of section 21 of this Act shall apply in relation to any transfer prohibited by this section as they apply in relation to a transfer prohibited by this Act of a security.
(3) In this section "nominee" has, in relation to any policy, annuity or assurance, the same meaning as it has in Part IV of this Act in relation to a security.
-
-
(1) Except with the consent of the Bank of Ghana, no Ghana resident shall settle any property, otherwise than by will, so as to confer an interest in the property on a person who, at the time of the settlement, is an external resident, or shall exercise, otherwise than by will, any power of appointment, whether created by will or otherwise, in favour of a person who, at the time of the exercise of the power, is an external resident.
(2) A settlement or exercise of a power of appointment shall not be invalid by reason that it is prohibited by this section, except so far as it purports to confer any interest on any person who, at the time of the settlement or the exercise of the power, is an external resident.
(3) Subsections (2) and (3) of section 21 of this Act shall apply in relation to a settlement or the exercise of a power of appointment prohibited by this section as they apply in relation to a transfer prohibited by this Act of a security.
(4) For the purposes of this section-
(a) any reference to settling property includes a reference to the making of any disposition, covenant, agreement or arrangement whereby the property becomes subject to a trust, or (in the case of resettlement) to a different trust; and
(b) a person shall be deemed to have an interest in property if he has any beneficial interest therein, whether present or future, and whether vested or contingent, or falls within a limited class of persons in whose favour a discretion or power in respect of the property is exercisable.
-
-
(1) Where there is served on any Ghana resident a notice in writing that the Bank of Ghana wishes any such requirements as are hereinafter mentioned to be complied with by any such body corporate as is specified in the First Schedule to this Act (hereafter in this section referred to as "an external company") and that person can by doing any act,-
(a) cause the external company to comply with any of the requirements; or
(b) remove any obstacle to the company complying with any of the requirements; or
(c) render it in any respect more probable that the company will comply with any of the requirements,
then, except so far as consent to the contrary may be given by the Bank of Ghana, that person shall do that act.
The requirements with respect to which such a notice may be given are as follows, that is to say, that the external company shall-
(i) furnish to the Bank of Ghana such particulars as to its assets and business as may be mentioned in the notice;
(ii) sell or procure the sale to an authorised dealer of any gold or external currency mentioned in the notice, being gold or external currency which it is entitled to sell or of which it is entitled to procure the sale;
(iii) declare and pay such dividend as may be mentioned in the notice;
(iv) realise any of its assets mentioned in the notice in such manner as may be so mentioned;
(v) refrain from selling, transferring, or doing anything which affects its rights or powers in relation to, any such securities as may be mentioned in the notice.
(2) Where any sum falls to be paid by an authorised dealer on the sale of gold or currency in pursuance of a requirement notified under the preceding subsection, the Bank of Ghana may direct the authorised dealer to pay the sum to a blocked account only, and where such a direction is given the Second Schedule to this Act shall have effect in relation to the payment of the sum.
(3) Except with the consent of the Bank of Ghana, no Ghana resident shall do any act whereby a body corporate which is by any means controlled (whether directly or indirectly) by Ghana residents ceases to be controlled by Ghana residents:
Provided that this subsection shall not prohibit any person from selling securities authorised to be dealt in on any recognised stock exchange in Ghana if the sale takes place in pursuance of an agreement entered into in the ordinary course of business on that exchange.
(4) Except in such circumstances as may be prescribed, no Ghana resident shall lend money in any form or any securities to a body corporate resident in Ghana which is by any means controlled (whether directly or indirectly) by external residents:
Provided that this subsection shall not apply where the lender after making such inquiries as are reasonable in the circumstances of the case does not know and has no reason to suspect that the body corporate is controlled as aforesaid.
(5) For the purposes of this section and of the First Schedule to this Act, persons shall be deemed to control a body corporate notwithstanding that other persons are associated with them in the control thereof if they can together override those other persons.
(6) In this section "security" includes a secondary security.
-
-
Where the Minister is satisfied that, owing to a change in the external or internal position of any country, action is being or is likely to be taken to the detriment of the economic position of Ghana, he may give general or special directions prohibiting, either absolutely or to such extent as may be specified in the directions, the carrying out, except with permission granted by or on behalf of the Minister, of any order given by or on behalf of-
(a) the country, or the Sovereign thereof, or any person resident therein, or
(b) any body or corporation which is incorporated under the law of the country or is under the control of the country, or the Sovereign thereof, or any person resident therein,
in so far as the order-
(i) requires the person to whom the order is given to make any payment or to part with any gold or securities, or
(ii) requires any change to be made in the person to whose credit any sum of money is to stand or to whose order any gold or securities are to be held.
-
-
Where a Ghana resident leaves Ghana, the Bank of Ghana may, before, at or after the time he leaves Ghana, direct that, for such period as may be specified in the direction, payments by him or on his behalf and to him or to his credit, and transactions in or in relation to Ghana Treasury bills, or securities or secondary securities, in which he is in any way concerned shall, whether or not he continues to be resident in Ghana, be subject to such restrictions as may be specified in the direction.
-
-
A document stating that any consent or direction is given under this Act, and purporting to be signed by or on behalf of the person giving the consent or direction, shall be evidence of the facts stated in the document.
-
-
(1) The Bank of Ghana may give directions declaring that for all or any of the purposes of this Act a person is to be treated as resident or not resident in such territories as may be specified in the directions.
(2) Except where the Bank of Ghana otherwise directs
(a) a person carrying on in Ghana a branch of any business shall, as respects such business as he is carrying on by that branch, be treated for the purposes of this Act as a Ghana resident;
(b) a transaction with or by a branch of any business, whether carried on by a body corporate or otherwise, shall be treated for the purposes of this Act as if the branch were a body corporate resident where the branch is situated.
In this subsection "branch" includes the head office of a business; and this subsection shall apply in relation to a body of persons (whether corporate or unincorporate) who carry on any activity, whether for the purpose of profit or not, as it applies in relation to a business.
(3) For the purposes of this Act a personal representative of a deceased person shall, unless the Bank of Ghana otherwise directs, be treated as resident in the territory where the deceased was resident for the purposes in question at the time of his death and as not resident elsewhere, so far as relates to any matters in which the personal representative is concerned solely in his capacity as such.
-
-
(1) It shall be an implied condition in any contract that, where, by virtue of this Act any consent is at the time of the contract required for the performance of any term thereof, that term shall not be performed except in so far as the consent is given or is subsequently not required:
Provided that this subsection shall not apply in so far as it is shown to be inconsistent with the intention of the parties that it should apply, whether by reason of their having contemplated the performance of that term inspite of the provisions of this Act or for any other reason.
(2) Notwithstanding anything in the Bills of Exchange Act, 1961 (Act 55) neither the provisions of this Act, nor any condition, whether express or to be implied having regard to those provisions, that any payment shall not be made without consent under this Act, shall be deemed to prevent any instrument being a bill of exchange or promissory note.
(3) The provisions of the Third Schedule to this Act shall have effect with respect to legal proceedings, arbitrations, insolvency proceedings, the administration of the estates of deceased persons, the winding up of companies, and proceedings under deeds of arrangement or trust deeds for behoof of creditors.
-
-
(1) The provisions of the Fourth Schedule to this Act shall have effect for the purpose of the enforcement of this Act.
(2) In the exercise of its functions under this Act, the Bank of Ghana shall comply with any directions given to it by the Minister.
(3) Persons belonging to the following classes, that is to say-
(a) bankers, authorised dealers and authorised depositaries;
(b) persons who with the consent of any person are in possession of documents which would, but for the consent, have to be in the custody of an authorised depositary;
(c) persons concerned with the keeping of any register in Ghana; and
(d) persons entrusted with the payment of capital moneys, dividends or interest in Ghana,
shall comply with such directions as may be given to them respectively by or on behalf of the Minister, being-
(i) in the case of any such persons, directions as respects the exercise of any functions exercisable by them by virtue of, or by virtue of anything done under, any provision of this Act; or
(ii) in the case of authorised dealers, such directions as aforesaid or directions as to the terms on which they are to accept gold or external currency or directions requiring them to offer their gold or external currency for sale to the Bank of Ghana on such terms as may be specified in any such directions.
-
-
(1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires-
"authorised dealer" means a person prescribed in that behalf under section 1(1) of this Act;
"authorised depositary" means a person prescribed in that behalf under section 11 of this Act;
"bearer certificate" means a certificate of title to securities by the delivery of which (with or without endorsement) the title to the securities is transferable;
"certificate of title to securities" means any document of title whereby a person recognises the title of another to securities issued or to be issued by the first-mentioned person, and in the case of any such document with coupons (whether attached or on separate coupon sheets) includes any coupons which have not been detached;
"coupon" means a coupon representing dividends or interest on a security;
"currency note" means a note which is or has at any time been legal tender, whether the note is whole or mutilated;
"external currency" means the currency of any country other than Ghana, and any reference to external currency includes a reference to external currency notes, external currency drafts and any right to receive external currency in respect of a credit or balance at a bank;
"external currency draft" has the meaning assigned to it by section 1(4) of this Act;
"external resident" means a person resident outside Ghana;
"Ghana resident" means a person resident in Ghana;
"gold" means gold coin or gold bullion;
"Minister" means the Minister responsible for Finance;
"policy of assurance" means any policy securing the payment of a capital sum or annuity on the occurrence of a specified event which is certain to happen and includes-
(a) any policy by which the payment of money is assured on death (except death by accident only) or the happening of any contingency dependent on human life; and
(b) any policy securing the payment of an immediate annuity;
and the reference in this definition to the occurrence of a specified event which is certain to happen shall include the occurrence, which is certain to happen, of one of specified events none of which by itself is certain to happen;
"prescribed" means prescribed by regulations made under section 38 of this Act;
"secondary securities" has the meaning ascribed to it by section 22 of this Act;
"securities" means shares, stock, bonds, notes (other than promissory notes), debentures, debenture stock, units under a unit trust scheme and shares in an oil royalty;
"unit trust scheme" means any arrangements made for the purpose, or having the effect, of providing for persons having funds available for investment, facilities for the participation by them, as beneficiaries under a trust, in profits or income arising from the acquisition, holding, management or disposal of any property whatsoever;
(2) Any provision of this Act (however worded) the effect of which is to prohibit the doing of any act where a person to or by whom the act is to be done or who stands in a specified relation to any property possesses any specified attribute as to residence or otherwise shall, where the act is done to or by two or more persons or, as the case may be, where two or more persons stand jointly in that relation to the property, operate to prohibit the doing of that act if any of those persons possess that attribute; and any provision of this Act imposing an obligation on any person to do an act if he possesses any specified attribute as to residence or otherwise shall, in relation to any act which can only be done by two or more persons jointly-
(a) where all those persons possess that attribute, operate to impose a joint obligation on all of them to do the act; and
(b) where some only of them possess that attribute, operate to impose a separate obligation on each one of them who possesses that attribute to do all he can to secure the doing of the act.
(3) Nothing in this Act shall be construed as requiring the Minister to pay any sum otherwise than in Ghana currency or otherwise than in Ghana, and any provision of this Act requiring the Minister to pay any sum to any person shall, where that sum is in an external currency, be construed as a provision that the Minister shall pay to that person the amount in Ghana currency which he would have received for the external currency if he had sold it to an authorised dealer in pursuance of an offer made under section 3 of this Act at the time when the said sum is paid.
(4) The obligations and prohibitions imposed by this Act shall, subject to the express limitations contained therein, apply to all persons, notwithstanding that they are not in Ghana and are not citizens of Ghana.
-
-
-
(1) The following enactments are hereby repealed-
The Exchange Control Ordinance (Cap. 206);
The Exchange Control (Amendment) Ordinance, 1952 (No. 21);
Section 55 (4) of the Bank of Ghana Ordinance, 1957 (No. 34).
(2) Without prejudice to the general effect of the Interpretation Act, 1960 (CA 4) as to repeals, any direction, permission or consent given under the Exchange Control Ordinance (Cap. 206) shall operate as nearly as may be as if it had been given under this Act.
-
-
This Act binds the Republic, but (without prejudice to any express terms) no term shall be implied in any contract entered into by or on behalf of the Republic that the Government will ensure that a consent required by or under this Act is given or that any other function conferred by or under this Act is exercised in a particular way.
-
|
