The Banco de Brasília (BRB) ruled out this Monday (19) any risk of intervention and stated that it has “asset sufficiency” to face the effects of the investigations involving Banco Master. In a statement, the institution controlled by the government of the Federal District informed that it is studying the sale of assets recovered from the private bank as a way of strengthening its financial position.
The demonstration occurs after the release of news about a supposed urgency for capital injection into BRB. According to the bank, possible measures to restore capital will only be evaluated after the completion of independent audits and analyzes conducted by the Central Bank.
“If necessary, BRB has a plan for capital recovery and highlights that any contributions from the controlling shareholder do not remove resources foreseen in the budget for public policies”, stated the institution.
Earlier, the Ministry of Finance released a statement denying that Minister Fernando Haddad had spoken with the government of the Federal District or with the management of BRB about the need for an immediate capital contribution, under the risk of intervention in the institution.
The clarification was made after reports indicated that the minister had demanded deadlines for a possible financial rescue for the state bank. The Treasury did not comment, however, on any technical discussions held with the Central Bank in monitoring the case.
Audits and balance sheet
BRB informed that the amounts of possible losses are still being determined by an independent audit and by the Central Bank. For this reason, the bank has not released its balance sheet for the third quarter, and there is no updated public data on its financial situation.
According to the institution, all operations related to the case are included in a forensic investigation conducted by an independent office, with monitoring by the authorities. The bank reinforced that it continues to operate normally and that “any unofficial number released publicly is merely speculative”.
Relationship with Banco Master
BRB was directly affected by the Banco Master crisis, the target of investigations for alleged fraud in credit portfolios. According to information from the Central Bank passed on to the Public Ministry, the state bank acquired R$12.2 billion in portfolios later considered fraudulent, which were replaced and are still undergoing evaluation.
Furthermore, BRB would have injected more than R$5 billion into Master through other operations, including the purchase of investment fund shares. The bank’s new management, which took over after the change of command last year, is trying to measure the impact of these operations carried out throughout 2024 and 2025.
Framing Problems
Operations with Master led BRB to temporarily breach prudential limits required by the Central Bank. The bank was out of compliance for at least two months, in January and February 2025. As a consequence, the BC determined the limitation of new acquisitions of financial assets and the preparation of a solution plan within six months, starting from October last year.
Despite the scenario, the possibility of injecting resources from the Government of the Federal District increases BRB’s capacity to face the crisis. The bank, however, states that it has not received any formal determination from the Central Bank to make an immediate contribution.
