HFC Bank has been rebranded and is now known as Republic Bank. It is now a proud member of the Republic Financial Holdings Limited Group (RFHL). HFC took on the name and identity of its parent company so as to make it more relevant, stronger and bigger in the banking industry in Ghana.
In a welcome address at the rebranding ceremony at the Kempinski Hotel in Accra, the Managing Director of the company, Mr Anthony Jordan, noted that for close to three decades of their existence, HFC Bank moved from a non-bank financial institution to a Universal Bank licensed by the Bank of Ghana (BOG).
He said that the Bank served customers with a wide range of products and services from Mortgages, Retail, Corporate and Commercial Banking, Investment, Custody Services and Brokerage among others.
Mr Jordan revealed that HFC Bank has been one of the most diversified Banks in Ghana. Recounting its beginnings, he said that the bank was started as a pilot housing finance programme by SSNIT in 1991 and was later licensed by the Bank of Ghana as a non-bank financial institution with the trade name, Home Finance Company. Then in 2003, it became a Universal Bank with the trade name HFC Bank Ghana Limited.
He said that in 2012, Republic Financial Holdings took 8.8% shares in HFC Bank following a private placement to raise 50 million Ghana cedis. In 2015, HFC Bank became a proud subsidiary of Republic Financial Holdings Limited after the mandatory takeover sanctioned by the Ghana Stock Exchange.
Mr Jordan said that the new brand reflects the bank’s capabilities, innovation, energy and a new found aggression. He pointed out that the Republic Bank wants to be a key player in Ghana’s Oil and Gas sector by being the bank of choice for all the local content providers. In addition, he said, the bank would also want to be known in the retail space as the preferred family bank - a bank that cares for everyone regardless of where a person is in the family life cycle.
He announced that HFC Bank ended 2017 with a profit of GH36.9 million after two years of successive losses.
Mr Nigel Baptiste, President of the Republic Financial Holdings Ltd noted that the blueprint behind the success of the Financial Holdings was that they grew as the communities they operated in grew. In so doing, he said, they have served with distinction over the course of 181 years of their history and intend to do the same in Ghana.
M Baptiste pointed out that the asset base of the group was US $10.1 bilion, with a declared net profit after tax and non-controlling interest of US$142.4 million which made it possible for Brand Republic to bring to bear the power of one serving many.
He said that Republic Bank was prepared to invest significantly in augmenting Ghanaian businesses to the level where they too can compete and lead in the West African and Sub-Saharan marketplace and even, the world.
The Deputy Minister of Finance, Mr Agyeman Kwarteng, implored the bank to use its profits to expand its facilities in Ghana and not be in a hurry to repatriate its profits. He also asked that they help to make the one district one factory project of the government, a success as there was a lot of potential here in Ghana.
Present at the function were the 2nd Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Mrs Elsie Awadzie, the Board Chairman of HFC Bank, Mr Charles Zwennes and other dignitories.
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