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SSNIT has said its The Trust Bank (TTB)/ Ecobank transaction was a deed under which SSNIT swapped its TTB shares for additional shares in Ecobank. �It was not a cash transaction and therefore there was no money involved at all,� SSNIT said in reaction to a statement by the pressure group, AFAG, that the transaction was riddled with corruption. The statement said there was no transactional loss and that this investment was in the best interest of the scheme. It said transactions of this nature required the engagement of a requisite firm to do a valuation and this was done. For SSNIT, Strategic African Securities (SAS) did the share valuation of the TTB shares and established a range of values per share for TTB as a basis for negotiation with Ecobank Gh. Ltd. Ecobank Development Corporation (EDC) did the valuation for Ecobank Gh Ltd. and also established a range of values for TTB shares. After negotiations, the two parties arrived at an agreed price of GH�12.62 per share. The statement said PricewaterHouse Coopers (PWC) never did any valuation of TTB shares on behalf of SSNIT or Ecobank, so the value of GH�14.00 reported by AFAG is pure fabrication. �We are however, aware that PWC did a buyer�s due diligence for Ecobank Ghana Ltd. Due diligence and valuation are two different exercises.� It said as far as SSNIT was concerned, no Swiss Investment Bank or Rand Bank of South Africa approached SSNIT to acquire TTB. SSNIT said it already has shares in both Ecobank Gh. Ltd. and Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI). ETI is the majority shareholder in Ecobank Gh. Ltd. ETI is a Pan African Bank headquartered in Togo and not a Nigerian Bank as stated by AFAG. The statement said TTB was a profitable but a growing bank that would plough back its profit to grow. Ecobank Gh. Ltd. on the other hand is a matured bank. In respect of the minimum capital requirement of TTB, SSNIT said it had to inject fresh capital of GH�40.9 million together with contributions from other shareholders before TTB was able to achieve the minimum capital requirement. The statement said the transaction would not �kill� Small and Medium Scale enterprises (SMEs). Rather, Ecobank�s strength in corporate and retail banking will synergise with TTB�s strength in SME banking thereby opening up wider opportunities to SME�s generally to expand their businesses. Again, the assertion that �over 200 workers will be sacked very soon� is false. The statement said as part of the transaction agreement, no staff of TTB would be laid off as a result of the merger. This has been agreed upon with the Bank of Ghana. It said the strategic plan of the merged entity was to expand operations by opening more branches thereby, creating more employment opportunities. The statement said SSNIT was restructuring and consolidating its investment portfolios to ensure that it obtains maximum returns on its investment assets. It said it had become necessary to disinvest from some investments and consolidate in other areas that would inure to the benefit of SSNIT. The Informal Sector Fund, for instance, has been repackaged to be in conformity with the Tier Three of the new Pensions Act (Act 766).