KAMPALA – Legal minds have challenged a notice by Bank of Uganda, informing the public of the advice to the registration bureau to remove the word “Bank” from the legally registered name of Crane Bank Limited, citing the Financial Institutions Act 2004.
In a notice in the media on Wednesday, the central bank said:
“… in line with the Supreme Court decision in which the legal status of the defunct Crane Bank Limited was pronounced, if has under Section 7(1) (a) of the Financial Institutions Act, 2004 (as amended), advised the Uganda Registration Services Bureau to strike the word “Bank” off the company name of Crane Bank Limited (the company)”. “The development has attracted consternation by legal advisors of the defunct Crane Bank Limited, who argue that “the law can not be applied retrospectively.”
According to one of the Crane Bank Ltd legal counsels, the company was incorporated in Uganda in 1990, while the Financial Institutions Act was passed in 2004.
It is, therefore, a known legal practice that the law doesn’t apply backward, which is kin to what the Bank of Uganda is trying to do.
In any case, the minds argue that institutions like the Uganda Blood Bank and Africa Energy Bank, use the word in their operations.
It is also understood that the central bank is yet to implement several orders of the Supreme Court in the defunct Crane Bank Limited matter.
On July 1, 2022, the Supreme Court in a ruling, ordered the central bank to pay costs at all court levels, right from the Commercial Court, and directed that Crane Bank be reverted to its owners.
In the ruling, Supreme Court Judge Lillian Tibatemwa also stressed that once a company is placed under receivership, it doesn’t lose its legal existence.
She noted that Crane Bank was a closed financial institution on being placed under receivership, which ended on 20th January 2018.
“The end of receivership means that the Assets and Liabilities of the Crane Bank reverted to its shareholders”.
The situation means that the Bank of Uganda is no longer a manager nor a receiver of Crane Bank.
