Our Regulator for today is the Collateral Registry (the “Registry”). The Registry is governed by the Borrowers and Lenders Act 2020 (Act 1052) (the “Act”).
The Bank of Ghana operates the Registry and some of the core functions of the Registry are:
- registration of collaterals;
- conduct of searches on registered collaterals;
- facilitation of realization or foreclosure of collaterals upon default by a borrower to pay a loan; and
- discharging registered collateral upon application by the lender.
The Registry has a software referred to as the Collateral Registry Application Software (CRAS) where registered users can log in to patronize the services offered whilst unregistered users can also visit their website to file a search on collaterals used for lending transactions.
The Act regulates the registration of interests such as charges, mortgages and pledges in properties (movable and immovable) used as collateral for lending transactions.