The BRVM has decided to suspend transactions in Oragroup's securities. This decision comes the day after the Togolese banking group announced that the competent authorities had refused to validate an agreement to change its capital structure.

The WAEMU Regional Stock Exchange (BRVM) based in Abidjan suspended this Friday, October 30, transactions in the shares of the Togolese financial group Oragroup.

The market company explains its decision by the "circulation of important information relating to the capital structure" of the company, and which "has not yet been in the Official Bulletin of listing in order to ensure the fairness of investors".

This decision could only be a formality while Oragroup complies with this publication requirement. On Thursday, October 29, its officials said in a statement that the WAEMU Banking Commission issued an unfavorable and binding opinion to its request for "prior authorization for the modification of the shareholding structure" of the holding company and the group's subsidiaries located in Benin, in Côte d'Ivoire and Togo.

On 21 November 2019, Oragroup announced an agreement for the partial sale of the shares held in its capital by the pan-African investment fund Emerging Capital Partners (ECP) to the Institut de prévoyance sociale - Caisse générale de retraite des agents de l'Etat (IPS-CGRAE) of Côte d'Ivoire. The agreement also concerns several institutional shareholders (Proparco, DEG, BIO and BOAD).

No official reason has so far been given to justify this refusal. Recall that oragroup's stock market performance does not confirm the success and enthusiasm generated by the stock market introduction.

Similarly, operationally, the group is a little struggling in this year 2020. Its net profit over the first 9 months is down 44% compared to the previous year. A situation attributed to the sharp rise in the cost of risks.

Also, 78,041 shares of the Bank were traded on the BRVM on September 10, 2020, according to market information obtained by the Ecofin Agency. The identity of the investors behind this record volume for the company at the BRVM since its IPO is not known.