9 which paved the way for licensing several banks. The banking law stipulated prerequisites for minimum capital, capital adequacy, prudential lending and financial reporting. Subsequently, Bank of Ghana Law 1992 (PNDCL 291) was passed to annul the provisions of ACTs 182 and 282 and confer added supervisory authority on the central bank. Nonetheless, the economic challenges heightened around the 2000s and called for more stringent reforms and legislation to address the loopholes. Bank of Ghana Act 2002 (Act 612) was promulgated to further assert the independence of the central bank from governmental influence, maintain price stability and promote economic policies to enhance growth of the banking system (Appiah-Adu & Bawumia, 2016; Mawutor, 2014). The universal banking concept was introduced in Ghana in 2003 to eliminate segmentation of banks, increase penetration and competition for capital mobilisation and create a level platform for banks. The minimum capital requirement was increased to GHS 7 million and banks were expected to achieve this by 2006. In the wake of the various reforms, the Banking Act 2004 repealed the Banking Act 1989 to merge existing banking laws, regulate banks and other associated issues (Adjei-Frimpong, 2013; BoG, 2007; IMF, 2011). The Banking Act 2004 was also amended as the Banking (Amendment) Act 2007 to permit the establishment of an International Financial Services Centre to boost the flow of foreign direct investment and income from foreign currency dominated fees. The Banking Act 2007 introduced the general banking license for universal and off-shore banking, Class I banking license for universal banking and Class II banking license for off-shore banking. The Ghanaian currency was redenominated in 2007 to equate 10,000 to one dollar. The minimum capital requirement for banks was further increased to GHS 60 million to engender competition and build the capacity of banks to engage in larger transactions. Foreign-owned banks had a two-year moratorium and local banks, a five-year moratorium to meet the requirement.>