The Ministry of Finance says it welcomes the decision of the Special Prosecutor to undertake the risk assessment and views it as an opportunity to address some of the concerns raised in respect of this transaction.

In a statement issued by the Public Relations Unit, the Ministry said such an assessment would reassure Ghanaians that “the transaction has and will continue to adhere to the highest levels of corporate governance and transparency.”

The statement said the Ministry had notified the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) that the Initial Public Offering would not be launched until the completion of the risk assessment.

It said the exercise and the findings by the Office of the Special Prosecutor of Ghana “shall be deemed material to the Initial Public Offering (IPO) and public listing of Agyapa and will therefore need to be fully disclosed in the prospectus prior to applying to the regulators of the UK and Ghana Stock Exchanges for approval to launch the IPO.”

“This Ministry is, therefore, working with the OSP to successfully complete this exercise. In the interim, the OSP has been notified by Ministry of finance that the IPO shall not be launched until the risk assessment has been completed,” it said.

On 14th September, 2020, the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP), in exercise of its mandate pursuant to sections 2 (1) (c), 29, 69 and 73 of Act 959 and Regulation 31 (1) and (2) of L.I. 2374 requested for information and production of documents in relation to a risk assessment it was conducting on Agyapa Royalties transaction.