The properties would be used to set up a real estate fund and as collateral for a R$3.3 billion loan from the Credit Guarantee Fund
The Federal Court prohibited the government of the Federal District from making a contribution to the Banco de Brasília (BRB) using public properties to cover the hole left by Banco Master in the institution. The decision responds to a request from PSB politicians, including the president of the Brazilian Industrial Development Agency (ABDI), Ricardo Cappelli, and federal deputy Rodrigo Rollemberg (DF).
The order was signed by judge Daniel Carnacchioni this Monday, the 16th and prevents the application of central sections of the project proposed by governor Ibaneis Rocha (MDB) and approved by the Legislative Chamber of the DF on the 3rd.
When contacted, BRB and the DF government had not commented until the end of this text, late this Monday morning.
Among the actions prevented by the decision are the use of nine properties offered by the government to reinforce BRB’s capital, with the transfer of assets to the bank, the offering of properties as collateral for a loan and the creation of a real estate fund with the land.
The decision does not interfere with BRB’s internal management. The bank maintains the right to hold its general meeting, scheduled for Wednesday, 18th, and its control bodies can continue proposing strategies to stem the liquidity crisis, as long as the measures do not involve the immediate execution of the acts provided for by law.
The action overturns the district government’s main strategy to cover the “hole” left by the Master crisis in BRB, estimated at approximately R$8 billion.
BRB was unable to sell portfolios from Daniel Vorcaro’s bank and the use of real estate was seen as “plan B” by the administration.
The properties would be used to set up a real estate fund and as a guarantee for a R$3.3 billion loan from the Credit Guarantee Fund (FGC). As the decision is of first instance, the government may appeal.
DF and state-owned assets
The approved law offers nine properties to be used to capitalize the BRB. As Estadão showed, one of the properties has a legal problem and another is in an environmental preservation area.
The government did not present updated reports on property values and did not even carry out studies demonstrating the impacts of the measure, and only estimated that the properties have a value of approximately R$6.6 billion.
According to the judge, the law authorizes the embezzlement of assets from companies such as Terracap, CEB, Caesb and Novacap – installed on land offered to BRB – without any prior impact study on the public services they provide.
Furthermore, the project authorized the Federal District to adopt several instruments to capitalize the bank “without any precise information about the economic condition and the degree of liquidity impairment of the financial institution”, said the judge.
The Court understood that the Legislative Chamber could authorize the Federal District to transfer assets from other state-owned companies and from the DF itself, in a complementary way, but not suggest capitalization instruments and methods. “The solution to BRB’s financial crisis should originate from the financial institution itself and not from the district Parliament”, stated the judge.
Elsewhere, the decision says that “The problem is not the law itself, but the concrete effects, which could harm the public assets of state-owned companies, with the possible transfer of properties from other state-owned entities to the BRB, to account for the liquidity crisis.”
*Estadão Content
