The Central Bank of Brazil decreed, this Wednesday, February 18th, the extrajudicial liquidation of Banco Pleno SA, an institution that previously operated under the names Indusval and Voiter, and which in recent years has faced a succession of restructurings, financial difficulties, and an increased perception of risk in the market.
The decision, published in an official statement from the Central Bank itself, also affects Pleno Distribuidora de Títulos e Valores Mobiliários (DTVM), both part of the Pleno prudential conglomerate, classified as segment S4, a small company with only 0.04% of the assets and 0.05% of the funding of the National Financial System.
According to a statement from the Central Bank, the measure was motivated by "the compromised economic and financial situation of the institution, deterioration of liquidity, and infringement of the rules governing banking activity."
It is estimated that the liquidation of Banco Pleno will cost the Credit Guarantee Fund an additional R$ 5 billion, raising the total cost of redeeming Master and Will Bank's CDBs to over R$ 50 billion.
Banco Pleno's trajectory is marked by constant changes in control and corporate identity. Originally Banco Indusval, the institution attempted to reposition itself in 2019 by adopting the name Voiter, betting on digitalization and a leaner structure.
After failed attempts to sell, the bank was eventually incorporated into the Banco Master conglomerate in 2024, led by Daniel Vorcaro. This new phase was short-lived: the Central Bank imposed restrictions that exacerbated Pleno's difficulty in raising funds, especially through Certificates of Deposit (CDBs), its main source of financing.
Due to regulatory limitations, the bonds began to be traded on the secondary market at rates well above the CDI (Brazilian interbank deposit rate), reflecting the deterioration of investor confidence.
In 2025, control was transferred to businessman Augusto Ferreira Lima, Vorcaro's former partner, who took over the repositioning of the institution with a focus on payroll-deducted loans, supported by the Credcesta operation. However, the plan was not enough to reverse the bank's critical liquidity situation.
Lima, in fact, was a target of Operation Compliance Zero, which investigates fraud in the sale of Master's portfolios to BRB, in November of last year. Like Vorcaro, he was arrested at the time. He was later released, is complying with precautionary measures, and is wearing an ankle monitor.
The Central Bank had been closely monitoring the institution for months. Since the end of 2025, the agency has been gradually dismantling structures of the former Master conglomerate after identifying financial insolvency, suspicions of accounting fraud, non-compliance with regulations, and the risk of systemic contagion to other financial institutions.
In the specific case of Banco Pleno, the regulatory body highlighted that the institution no longer presented safe operating conditions, both from a financial and regulatory standpoint. The Central Bank's investigations are ongoing and may result in administrative sanctions and notifications to the competent authorities. As required by law, the assets of the controllers and administrators have been frozen.
