Godfred Yeboah Dame (Hon) has cited Banks for accountability for their assistance offered to criminals in the concealment of wealth acquired from economic crime and corruption. The learned Attorney-General identified Banks for accountability in his address to the gathering of hundreds of participants of this years International Symposium on Economic Crime held at the University of Cambridge.

The Attorney-General set his eyes on banks in a segment of his speech sub-titled: "Transparency, integrity and collaboration of various institutions required to trace assets". The respected Attorney-General said "Banks must be held accountable. Confidentiality rules and protection of the identities of holders of accounts, especially in some offshore jurisdictions, often become a facade and a conduit for the concealment of the proceeds of corruption and other economic crimes."

In his rather terse but pointed speech, Mr. Dame recognised the difficulty in tracing assets of accused persons especially convicts of economic crime and thus suggested the need for a deployment of geolocation tools to identify and monitor the physical location of assets.

Mr. Dame also underscored the need for a transparent financial environment as the opposite offers a conducive environment for the "concealment of assets obtained from criminal activity".

'Sunshine laws' in Ghana

On the back of a need for transparent financial environment, the Attorney-General offered some Ghanaian laws as examples of efforts aimed against concealment of proceeds of economic crime.

In championing a cause that discourages economic crime, the learned Attorney-General said "An atmosphere of darkness facilitates the commission of economic crime and the concealment of assets obtained thereby. It is for this reason that the recent passage by Ghana of laws like the the Right to Information Act, Corporate Restructuring and Insolvency Act, 2020 (Act 1015), the Protection of Witnesses Act, and the Whistleblower (Amendment) Act, 2023 (Act 1103) which introduce a reward system for whistleblowers have a profound effect on fostering a culture of transparency, accountability in public affairs and banishing the cloud of darkness within criminals hide their ill-gotten wealth and properties. We must promote transparency and integrity as tools for tracing the assets of perpetrators of economic crime and ensuring that economic crime does not pay."

The Symposium is a week-long event drawing from over 100 countries and over 1500 participants which participants include Attorneys-General, law enforcement agents, security intelligence chiefs, politicians, lawyers, judicial staff officers among others.