Ghana's Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has robustly defended its new levy regime, asserting that increased contributions from licensed market operators are essential. These higher fees will finance the personnel, technology, and institutional capacity needed to supervise Ghana's increasingly sophisticated capital market.
Mr. Mensah Thompson, Deputy Director-General of the SEC Ghana, stated that these increases are not merely additional operating costs for financial institutions. Instead, they represent the price of building a stronger regulatory system. This system aims to protect investors and support long-term market development, even as industry participants worry about costs being passed to investors.
This debate highlights a difficult regulatory trade-off. A capital market cannot grow sustainably without effective supervision. However, regulation itself can become a barrier if compliance costs rise too sharply. The controversy centers on percentage increases that reach several hundred percent for some charges, raising concerns for smaller operators.
“We know that these measures are tough. We know that it has ruffled you a bit. But this is the time where we all put our hands together and lift this market up,” Mr. Thompson said on Sunday, August 16, 2026, during a NorvanReports Economic Governance Platform discussion. The discussion focused on whether the SEC's new levies were regulating or overcharging, and who would bear the economic burden.
The SEC argues that focusing solely on percentage increases can distort the actual economic impact. Some charges are rising from relatively low nominal amounts. For example, an annual market levy increased from GHS 5,000 to GHS 25,000, a 400% rise. Mr. Thompson questioned if this GHS 20,000 increase was excessive for institutions managing portfolios worth hundreds of millions of cedis.
For larger operators, a GHS 20,000 increase may represent a small proportion of their operating income. However, Ghana's investment industry includes many smaller fund managers. For these smaller entities, the same fixed charge can have a materially different effect on their profitability and client base. This raises questions about the proportionality of the new levies.
If higher fixed regulatory costs disproportionately affect smaller operators, they could create barriers to entry. This might also encourage consolidation around larger institutions, potentially reducing competition. Greater product diversity and market participation remain important development objectives for Ghana's capital market.
The SEC's strongest defense lies in the resources required for effective industry supervision. Mr. Thompson revealed that fewer than 10 personnel in the Commission’s asset management department supervise over 85 asset management companies, collective investment schemes, and mutual funds. This illustrates the strain on regulatory capacity as the market expands.
The workload for securities regulators now involves much more than processing licenses and reviewing routine reports. They must monitor liquidity, investment risks, disclosures, fund-management practices, and investor complaints. Regulators also need to address cyber threats, market misconduct, and increasingly complex financial products. Maintaining technical capacity to respond to innovation is also crucial.
Ghana's past financial-sector experiences make the cost of regulatory weakness difficult to ignore. Poor supervision can allow problems to accumulate, leading to investor losses, institutional failures, and costly government interventions. The SEC aims to prevent such scenarios by strengthening its oversight capabilities through these new levies.