President of the monetary authority asked for the approval of PEC to expand the institution’s financial autonomy
The president of the (Central Bank), Gabriel Galípolo, said this Thursday (26.mar.2026) that the monetary authority has a feeling of “consternation” after the case of . He argued that ethics is a value “very expensive” to the institution’s public employees.
Galípolo also asked “help” for the approval of the PEC (Proposed Amendment to the Constitution) in Congress, which expands the financial autonomy of the Central Bank in relation to the government (PT). The proposal would help, according to him, to replace public servants who left or retired and to invest in technological advances for better monitoring. “granular” supervision and prevention of irregularities.
Galípolo stated that the Central Bank regularly discusses improvements in audits to avoid cases like that of Banco Master. “I would not like to make any type of comment that would reduce the consternation it generated within the Central Bank. For all Central Bank employees, ethics is a very dear value”these.
The president of the Central Bank declared that it was a process of “cooked” which is still being experienced by employees of the monetary authority: “The house responded, as always, very promptly, correctly, seeking to resolve all problems and having, above all, this value that is from the Central Bank”.
The PF said that Vorcaro paid bribes to Central Bank employees to favor the Master. Two were. Paulo Sérgio Neves de Souza e Belline Santana are suspected of facilitating Master’s interests in the monetary authority.
Galípolo said that the investigations take on two fronts:
- one from the CGU (Comptroller General of the Union), with possible administrative sanctions;
- one from the Federal Police, from a criminal point of view.
PEC 65 OF 2023
Galípolo declared that public officials know how “do more” in the area of regulation and inspection, but it is necessary. He argued that the BC “suffers from limitations” that derive from resources and support from the legal structure. He asked for the approval of a complementary bill on bank resolution and the PEC that would provide more stability to the BC.
“I’m not asking for support, I’m asking for help from senators so that we can move forward with the PEC, which can provide resources from both a financial, technological and human point of view so that we can improve and keep up with everything that is happening in the world and transformations in the financial market”these.
MASTER PROCESS
Galípolo once again said that, in January 2025, the BC’s Director of Inspection, Ailton Aquino, identified that Master was selling new portfolios because of liquidity problems, even with funding difficulties.
An analysis group began work in February and identified, in March, that the portfolios were unbacked. The documents obtained were, according to Galípolo, insufficient to establish fraud, but the BC sought more satisfactory answers about the origin of the credits.
The Central Bank found it difficult to find evidence and advanced its investigations during the process of analyzing the purchase of Master by BRB.
Galípolo defended the legal rite of the process so that there would be no subsequent questions. The BC gave “chances” for clarification, and the investigation time was allocated to substantiate the process and inform the competent authorities.
The BC president said that the institution acts within its role in “more absolute rigor” and did not retreat from his prerogatives nor seek “exacerbate” their duties in search of protagonism.“There will be no savior of the country for a moment like this”said Gallipolo.
MASTER CASE
The was paid off by the Central Bank in November 2025. The owner and founder of the financial institution, Daniel Vorcaro, is being investigated for corruption, money laundering and hacking of computer devices.
On March 19, 2026, he signed a confidentiality agreement with the PF (Federal Police) and the PGR (Attorney General’s Office) that. The document exposes risks facing several public authorities in Brasília. This agreement was signed almost 12 months after the announcement of the purchase by BRB (Banco de Brasília), which followed the operation.
Master was responsible for the record loss in the FGC (Credit Guarantee Fund), of , even though he only had . It also caused almost a loss in Social Security funds.
Banco Master would have it for BRB, which culminated in the investigations and the extrajudicial proceedings announced in November by the BC. The monetary authority sent a report to the MPU (Union Public Ministry) with the first details about the irregularities.
BANCO CENTRAL
Galípolo said, on February 9, that the monetary authority had “doubts” in January and found out about the irregularities in March 2025. The BC Director of Inspection, Ailton Aquino, declared that the monetary authority was only able to find out about the fraud on June 27, 2025.
The first Federal Police operation was only carried out in . Vorcaro was released in and arrested again after another operation.
Paulo Sérgio Neves de Souza e Belline Santanafrom the Central Bank, are suspected of facilitating Master’s interests in the monetary authority. The CGU (Comptroller General of the Union) also carries out administrative disciplinary proceedings. Paulo Sérgio Souza was Director of Inspection at the Central Bank from 2017 to 2023, during the (MDB) and (PL) governments, being nominated by the 2 former presidents for the position.
Paulo Souza is the target of PF investigations for providing privileged information to Daniel Vorcaro. Belline and Souza worked at Desup (Department of Banking Supervision) and were removed from their positions this year.
