By Our Reporter
The governor Bank of Uganda has assured the public that they will not close Crane Bank. The governor explained that ‘they are seeking new investors who can boost the capital base of Crane Bank’. Bank of Uganda on 20th October, 2016 announced that it had taken over management of Crane Bank.
The central bank also suspended the board governing Crane Bank and its acting Managing Director. Bank of Uganda said Crane Bank was undercapitalized and presented a big risk to the economy. Now the bank which is functioning normally is under the management of the regulator.
There has been fear that Crane Bank which started operating in 1995 would eventually be closed however Mutebile who refuted such claims said no bank is going to be closed. “In spite of the fact that the Bank of Uganda took over management of Crane Bank; the bank will not be closed but we are seeking new investors who can boost the capital base of Crane. There is no bank in our economy that is facing imminent closure. The banking sector is closely monitored and supervised to ensure that the financial institutions are well run and that depositors’ interests are safeguarded at all times.”
The takeover of Crane Bank startled the banking sector. This week news emerged that other banks were undercapitalized and were going to be closed. This further dampened the sombre mood of the banking sector with financial experts blaming the regulator for failing to neatly supervise the banking sector.
“All this is Bank of Uganda fault. We have international banks performing poor but Bank of Uganda does nothing. This mess all goes back to supervision. Why is bank of Uganda not acting as it did with Crane Bank, a local bank,” Nelson Wadada, an expert in finance management elaborated.