BRB should need another 15 days to present its balance sheet, says Celina Leão

The governor of the Federal District, Celina Leão (PP), stated this Saturday (13) that the BRB (Banco Regional de Brasília) should need another 15 days to present its financial statement for 2025.

The statement comes days after the Legislative Chamber of the Federal District approved the project that authorizes the government to contract a loan of R$ 6.6 billion from the FGC (Credit Guarantee Fund) to help the bank.

The forecast was given by Celina to journalists during a meeting in Ceilândia, administrative region of the Federal District. When asked about the date for presenting the balance sheet, the governor replied: "That's it, plus about 15 days."

The release by BRB of the 2025 consolidated financial statements has already been postponed more than once. Originally, it was scheduled for the end of March and then for May 29th. However, the bank postponed the date on both occasions.

The delay in disclosure harms the bank's image, which had its rating downgraded by S&P Global for the second time in less than three months.

In an interview with CNN Brasil, Celina had said that BRB would need a few more days to calculate the financial data after the loan agreement signed with the Union. The agreement makes a credit operation viable for the bank, amid the liquidity crisis following the attempt to purchase the liquidated Banco Master.

BRB needs an investment of R$8.8 billion to improve its financial health indexes, of which R$6.6 billion will be acquired via loan from the FGC (Credit Guarantee Fund). Another R$2.2 billion will be contributed with resources that the GDF (Government of the Federal District) obtained with the securitization of active debt.

This week, Nelson de Souza, president of the bank, said that the institution intends to publish the financial statement for 2025 by June 30th. However, he said, it was still necessary to resolve pending issues before publishing the document.

BRB Crisis
In recent months, BRB has been going through a crisis involving links with the former Banco Master, owned by businessman Daniel Vorcaro. Arrested in Brasília, the banker is accused of a billion-dollar fraud scheme within the financial market.

Master is being investigated on suspicion of manipulating balance sheets and irregular financial transactions involving other institutions - including BRB.

In September, BRB even tried to buy Banco Master, but the Central Bank rejected the purchase. The negotiation turned into a billion-dollar scandal when it was discovered that the assets offered to BRB were fraudulent, with no real backing.

According to investigations by the PF (Federal Police), there is evidence that BRB was aware that it was acquiring "bad assets", suggesting possible participation in the scheme. In April this year, Paulo Henrique Costa, president of the bank at the time of the Master operations, was preventively arrested.

BRB tried to buy Banco Master; understand chronology | LIVE CNN

Source: CNN