In an address read on her behalf by Dr Settor Amediku, Director, Regional Branch Co-ordinating Office, Bank of Ghana, Mrs Asante-Asiedu said the move was necessary to meet the demands for innovative credit solutions as the economy becomes more digitized.
“The goal is to build a fully interoperable financial infrastructure that supports real-time data-driven decision-making and inclusive access to finance,” she said on the second day of the celebration of the 15th anniversary of the Collateral Registry Department.
Discussions for the second day focused on strategies for improving the Secure Transactions Regime over the next five years, including ways of strengthening the registry’s enforcement mechanisms, enhanced collaboration with regulatory bodies, and increased awareness among stakeholders about their obligations and rights.
Mrs Asante-Asiedu said the establishment of the Collateral Registry was a bold and visionary step introduced to address a major challenge in the credit ecosystem, the lack of a transparent, efficient, and reliable framework for the use of movable assets as collateral.
The lack of the framework limited access to credit, especially for micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises, was severely constrained by the inability to pledge movable assets such as machinery, inventory, or receivables.
“This limited the potential of a vital segment of our economy. By providing a centralized electronic platform for registering and searching security interests in movable property, the registry has empowered lenders to expand the scope of their credit portfolios, enabling borrowers, especially those without traditional land-based collateral, to unlock the value of their movable assets,” she said.
Mrs Asante-Asiedu lauded the critical role of all stakeholders such as financial institutions, the law firms, borrowers, regulators, development partners, and the private sector in sustaining the success of the Registry.
“Let me take this opportunity to thank you all for your unwavering support and collaboration over the years. Your contributions have been instrumental in making the registry transformative,” she added.
Head of Collateral Registry Department of the Bank of Ghana, Fred Asiama Koranteng, called on stakeholders to contribute to fashioning out a more robust secure transactions framework for the country.
They should also help to ensure that the Collateral Registry continues to play a vital role in promoting a secure and reliable lending environment.
“Let’s harness the momentum from this celebration to drive goodness and innovation in the next decades,” he said.
Mr Koranteng said the Registry had helped unlock the potential of movable assets, including livestock, equipment, vehicles, inventory as viable forms of collateral.
The Registry over the period saw a significant increase in the registration of security interests on the registry platform from 10,413 in 2010 to 1.4 million at the end of 2024, representing an average growth rate of 31.5%.
The registry also provided a transparent and reliable platform to assess and manage credit risk, fostering greater confidence in lending against movable and immovable assets, leading to more transparency and trust in the credit administration process.
The online platform had also streamlined the process of registering, searching, enforcing, and discharging security interests, thus reducing bureaucratic hurdles and improving efficiency for both lenders and borrowers.
Panellists at the meeting said the Collateral Registry system had been helpful in advancing transparency and clarity when it comes to information that was needed on the whole.
They said the Registry had enhanced the process of enforcement by giving lenders the avenue to enforce their securities without necessarily going to court.
The Collateral Registry is good for business in so far as it will help to make access to credit and facilities easier and to bridge the gap of information asymmetry, they said.
GNA
