Ecobank removes CEO, names Albert Essien new MD

The bank said in a statement that effective from the same date, Tanoh will no longer be a director of ETI.
Tanoh joined Ecobank Group as CEO designate in July 2012 and commenced his executive role in October 2012 prior to being appointed Group CEO in January 2013. He will be replaced by Mr Albert Essien, currently Deputy CEO/Group Executive Director for Corporate and Investment Bank, with immediate effect.
Mr Essien has been at Ecobank for more than 20 years rising to the position of Deputy Group CEO two years ago.
Prior to becoming Deputy CEO, Mr Essien was the Regional Head for Anglophone West Africa (excluding Nigeria) and Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA) regions.
He started his banking career in 1986 with the National Investment Bank in Accra, Ghana and joined the Corporate Banking Department of Ecobank Ghana in 1990. In 1997, he became Country Risk Manager. He was appointed Deputy Managing Director in 2001 and became Managing Director in December 2002.
Essien has a degree in Economics from the University of Ghana and is an alumnus of the Executive Development Programme of INSEAD (France/Singapore).
The bank has been under pressure by the Securities and Exchange Commission to clean up the mess of over its 2012 financial result.
The crisis began after its then finance director, Laurence do Rego, whom the bank had suspended, told regulators she had been pressured to misstate 2012 financial results. Ecobank rejected her accusations.SEC in its report recently indicted the board and asked the bank to quickly call for a general meeting of the shareholders to address some of the concerns.