The Central Bank’s decision for the extrajudicial liquidation of Banco Master was already taken before the announcement of the transaction to purchase the institution by Fictor Holding Financeira. Interlocutors who follow the matter assess that the deal was an attempt by Master’s owner, Daniel Vorcaro, to create a smokescreen to try to escape the country before the Federal Police operation that arrested the executive.
The settlement was declared this Tuesday morning, less than 24 hours after Fictor’s announcement. The act by the president of the BC, Gabriel Galípolo, mentions the compromise of the institution’s economic and financial situation, with deterioration of the liquidity situation, and the violation of the rules that govern banking activity and non-compliance with the determinations of the Central Bank of Brazil.
Operation Compliance Zero investigates an alleged scheme of creation and negotiation of false credit securities by institutions that are part of the National Financial System. The PF investigates possible crimes of fraudulent management, reckless management, formation of a criminal organization and other infractions.
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The investigations began in 2024, following a request from the Federal Public Ministry to investigate the possible manufacture of credit portfolios that presented inconsistencies. These securities, according to the PF, would have been sold to another bank, and, after inspection by the Central Bank, replaced by other assets without adequate technical evaluation. People familiar with the matter say that the purchasing bank was BRB, which also made an offer for Master in March, which was rejected by the financial system regulator in September.
According to interlocutors, the BC noticed irregularities in the portfolio purchase operation at the beginning of this year, before the announcement of the intention to purchase the Vorcaro institution by the state bank. At the time, the financial system regulator informed the MPF to investigate the suspected fraud. The BC also ordered BRB to reverse the operation, to restore the balance.
The settlement decreed by the BC also applies to the Master Corretora de Câmbio, Bonds and Securities. In addition, the BC decreed a special temporary administration regime (RAET) for Banco Master Múltiplo. With the liquidation, Vorcaro’s assets were blocked, as were other controllers and former administrators of the group’s institutions affected by the BC’s decisions.
The liquidation regime is a way of closing the activities of an institution with serious financial, operational or management problems in an orderly manner, aiming at the stability of the national financial system. According to the BC, this regime is adopted when irrecoverable insolvency occurs or when serious violations of the rules that regulate its activity are committed, among other legal hypotheses. At RAET, the institution’s activities are maintained.
