The Securities and Exchange Commission has assured affected clients of collapsed financial institutions of inclusivity in government’s bailout package.
In a statement sighted by the Vaultz News, the Commission reiterated its resolve to make payment to persons after validations haven been thoroughly carried out, announcing that the bailout package had been misinterpreted.
“We wish to assure all affected clients that the Government bailout package is all-inclusive, provided claims have been validated and liquidation orders secured. The SEC reiterates the fact that there is no plan to exclude any group of customers and as indicated in our last press release, the roll-out of the Government bailout will be done in phases.
“The first phase will cover clients of the twenty-two (22) companies currently under official liquidation per Court orders, based on their validated claims. The Official Liquidator will communicate details of the payment process to affected clients starting in September. The second phase would cover clients of the remaining companies after the liquidation orders are secured. The point being made therefore is that receiving Government’s bailout is predicated on completion of validation and securing of liquidation orders. It is therefore a question of timing and nothing else”.
SEC also responded to inaccuracies by Blackshield Capital Management Limited after clients’ incessant demand for their monies.
“Blackshield alleges that the SEC issued a public notice in 2017 directing that their Structured Finance (SF) product should be discontinued within six (6) months from the date of the directive. They further alleged that this singular directive by SEC set into motion unprecedented demands for redemption by customers of Blackshield and other fund managers leading to a backlog in payment. This is inaccurate. The SEC did not issue a public notice in 2017 directing that the SF product be discontinued. Secondly, Blackshield alleges that the SEC refused to grant approval to an alternate product. This is another untruth.”
The validation of the claims filed against Blackshield according to the commission is also partially done because of limited access to their records, as there were some discrepancies with the evidence provided by the defunct company.
“The data provided by Blackshield to our agent for the forensic audit and the SF product were in excel format but our agent did not sight any evidence to support the values in the excel sheets. The server was also not in the offices at the date of revocation and securing of the offices. Blackshield submitted data in excel and the incompleteness of the excel sheet became evident after claims were submitted by investors. The excel sheet data enabled our agent to examine 2,275 claims (about 3% of the 82,204 claims filed) valued at GHS26 million”.
The statement further claimed that SEC had to engage the assistance of a law enforcement agency who was able to retrieve the server from Blackshield on 19th August, 2020.
“Our agent is therefore now able to proceed with the validation of the remaining claims filed against Blackshield”.
SEC further intimated that, “in terms of the liquidation order, the pace would be accelerated if Blackshield gives credence to its statement of readiness to work with the SEC, for the inclusion of its clients in the Government bailout package as soon as possible, by considering the adverse effect its (Blackshield) actions are having on investors all over the country.
“Blackshield in its statement of 28th August, 2020 has admitted that it does not have the resources to pay investors, so genuine and sincere steps must be taken by Blackshield to back its commitment to see its customers paid through the Government bailout”.
