BOOK REVIEW

TITLE:                 Concise Law of Banking

AUTHOR:             Nana Kegya Appiah-Adu (Mrs)

PUBLISHER:         Ace Publisher, Accra, 2024

REVIEWER:         Professor Edmund Kwaw

Nana Kegya Appiah-Adu’s text on banking law is a detailed examination of key topics in the law of banking. The organization of the book is coherent and logical.

In Chapter 1, Nana Kegya Appiah-Adu delves into the myriad of definitions of bank and banking practice, tracing its evolution from the traditional banking business that uinvolved the holding of accounts and collection of cheques, to the  modern broader definitions that encompass banking and banking business in jurisdictions like the UK, the US and Ghana.

She sides with the absence of classification banks in Ghana’s Banks and Specialised Deposit Taking Act, 2016, indicating that this method makes room for new categories of banks that may be established from time to time.

Chapter 2 explores bank regulation, supervision and licensing, in Ghana and other jurisdictions. Here, Nana Kegya Appiah-Adu succeeds in making a traditionally dry topic stimulating by linking the discussion of the rationale for banking regulation to the forms of banking regulation, including systemic regulation, prudential regulation, conduct of business regulation, which is then linked to the framework for banking regulation in Ghana.

Chapter 3 focuses on the banker-customer relationship, and it examines the identification of a bank’s customer, as well as the contractual and quasi-contractual aspects of the banker-customer relationship in Ghanaian law specifically, and the common law generally.

An important discussion in the chapter, especially given the increased use of the internet to transact all kinds of banking business, is the case of Philipp v Barclays Bank Plc, a decision of  the Supreme Court of the UK, which concerned the potential liability of a bank for fraudulent activities perpetrated against a bank’s customer by third parties.

Here, the customer, who was deceived by a fraudster into transferring £700,000 from her Barclays current account to two bank accounts in the UAE, sued Barclays, arguing that the bank owed her a duty not to carry out her payment instructions, if the bank had reasonable grounds to believe that she was being defrauded. The Supreme Court of the UK found in favour of Barclays. The court held that the Bank did not owe a duty to the customer in respect of her own payment instructions.

Since this decision will potentially extend much further than the specific fraud scenario it concerns, its discussion in the chapter is timely, and provides much needed guidance and clarity to banking firms who execute customer payments on a daily basis.

Also noteworthy in her discussion of the banker-customer relation is the inclusion of an explanation of the Know Your Customer (KYC) requirements in Ghana and other jurisdictions. In this regard, this chapter is a welcome change from similar discussions in other traditional accounts of the banker-customer relationship.

Because banking professionals deal with bank accounts and cheque transactions on a daily basis, Chapter 4, which explores Bank Accounts, and Chapter 5, which concerns Cheques, contain crucial material for the banking professional.

The focus of Chapter 6 is on the perennial problem of banks, namely, money paid mistakenly out of a customer’s account, and the conditions under which restitution is possible under such circumstances.

Appropriately, following this discussion concerning mistaken payments, chapter 7 delves into the concept of the paying and collecting bank, garnishee proceedings in Ghana and the all-important issue of Mareva injunctions.

She notes that an application for a Mareva injunction may be sought where a bank account is being used for an illegal purpose or unlawful purpose, including violations of the Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2020 (Act 1044) and abetment of money laundering.

While all the chapters in the book are of utmost importance, perhaps the most ground breaking chapter, in terms of a commercial law text for the Ghanaian market, is Chapter 8, which concerns Electronic Banking. There are very few textbooks and academic literature, generally, on electronic banking in Ghana. So, the inclusion of Electronic Banking as a separate chapter, is commendable.

In the final analysis the book is, first, as the author herself states: “suitable for students, lecturers, researchers, banking practitioners, lawyers, consultants, various professionals and others who wish to understand the principles of banking law;” second, a detailed account of the primary features of common law and Ghanaian statutes governing banking law and banking practice;  and third, a valuable reference companion that contains suggestions to guide further and future research.

Nana Kegya Appiah-Adu does an outstanding job of selecting topics that provide a comparative detailed discussion of banking law and practice in Ghana and other common law jurisdictions. Her considerable experience in the banking world is evident in her discussions, and this makes the book a very valuable resource. In these respects, the book makes a significant contribution to the law of banking, with specific reference to Ghana, and generally in the common law.

Professor  Kwaw is the Head of Department, Faculty of Law,Wisconsin International University College, Ghana.

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