The BC (Central Bank) decreed, this Friday (26), the extrajudicial liquidation of Sefer Investimentos DTVM, a distributor based in São Paulo.
In a note, the monetary authority stated that the measure was motivated by the compromise of the institution’s economic and financial situation, which would represent an abnormal risk to the market.
The BC also cited violations of legal standards and, as part of the liquidation process, determined the unavailability of the assets of more than 12 directors and former directors who are part of the company’s board.
Four other companies identified as controlling Sefer also had their assets made unavailable.
The main suspicion is that the owner of the institution, Benjamin Botelho de Almeida, had acted as Daniel Vorcaro’s financial operator, playing a relevant role in the web of buying and selling of securities considered bad.
Sefer had already been the target of the second phase of Operation Compliance Zero, which investigates fraud related to Banco Master. THE CNN Brazil sought out Sefer to comment on the matter, but did not receive a response at the time of publication.
In an interview with CNN Money, the professor of Economics at Ibmec-RJ, José Ronaldo Souza, assessed that the measure is part of a broader context of reviewing the impacts of the Master case on the Brazilian financial system.
“Credibility is shaken, but it is a necessary process precisely because of the problems that occurred,” he stated. According to him, Sefer is a small manager and the case should not have major systemic repercussions.
“The Central Bank has to take this type of attitude to continue this operation of reviewing how far the Master Bank’s operation has reached”, he added.
Souza also highlighted that the developments in the Master case revealed a more extensive network than initially imagined.
“It’s really difficult to know exactly how far the web of bad credits that were distributed by Banco Master goes,” he said.
Even so, the expert considered that “the biggest issue has already passed” and that the next developments should be of lesser importance.
Regulation of fintechs in check
For Souza, the Brazilian financial system remains solid and recent events do not call its reliability into question. He explained that the expansion of fintechs was initially accompanied by weaker regulation, designed to stimulate competition.
“First a very weak regulation to stimulate competition and now, naturally, a tightening of this regulation to avoid the exaggerations that ended up occurring”, he analyzed.
Regarding the way the Central Bank acted — decreeing the liquidation suddenly —, the expert considered the stance appropriate. “Often you act quickly to stop and minimize the damage,” he said, adding that “taking it by surprise can be good for this purpose as well.”
He believes that the decision was preceded by an internal assessment on the best way to address the seriousness of what was observed at the institution.
For investors, Souza recommended looking for managers with a reliable track record, understanding the type of assets that make up the funds’ portfolios and, when necessary, using qualified professionals.
“The issue is not the instrument, the issue is the type of asset that the fund buys”, he concluded.
