Intense days at BRB: from the independent investigation to changes in the board of directors and the council.

Brasilia - After suspicions of participating in the R$ 12.2 billion fraud scheme with Banco Master and of having attempted an unsuccessful purchase of part of Daniel Vorcaro 's financial institution, BRB , now under new leadership, has already triggered a "turnaround" to replace several positions in the executive board and also in the Board of Directors, which should remain in place for the next few weeks and months, sources from the top of the public bank in Brasilia told NeoFeed .

"The changes are not over, and new appointments and approvals of directors and board members are still to come. This is natural when you have a new president, but it was also done to reassure the market," says a senior executive at BRB.

Amidst the restructuring of the bank's leadership, there is also growing discussion in the market about a possible capital injection into BRB to cover the estimated R$ 4 billion shortfall caused by suspicious transactions with Mastercard.

For now, the audit by the Machado Meyer firm, with technical support from Kroll, is still determining the exact amount of the shortfall. And the Board of Directors of the public bank has not yet received any communication from the Central Bank (BC) regarding the financial institution's insufficient assets.

Last week, BRB informed the market that it had "a capital plan ready which, among other options, includes a direct investment from the controlling shareholder." The statement affirmed that the losses from the Master Case were under investigation by the Central Bank and by the independent audit firm hired by the bank.

Ideally, a source from the BRB board told NeoFeed , the amount should be returned to the financial institution's coffers through investigations by the Federal Police, via asset seizure and other measures.

The worst-case scenario would be if the government of the Federal District (GDF) had to make a contribution in this regard or if it were to be federalized, but this possibility is not being considered for now.

The bank has denied this possibility and is not even considering going down that path, but the market analyzes that this could indeed be a viable option depending on the outcome of the investigations.

When contacted, BRB responded in a statement that the company "informs that it has full capacity to replenish its capital, should any losses resulting from certain operations be confirmed. Furthermore, it emphasizes that it has a structured capital plan for stress scenarios, which has not been activated to date."

"BRB reaffirms that it remains solid, with net equity of R$ 4.5 billion and reference equity of R$ 6.5 billion, operating normally and ensuring all financial services," BRB adds.

Laying the bricks together

With over R$80 billion in assets, R$60 billion in loan portfolio and recurring net income of R$518 million in the first half of 2025, BRB will have an intense week to adjust both its financial and administrative aspects.

In addition to the new CEOs already announced, a new interim chairman for the board of directors, and three new board members already appointed by the acting governor of the Federal District, Celina Leão – all in the last week – NeoFeed has learned that some directorates should also have new executives soon: Finance and Controllership; and Retail.

These two director positions are currently vacant and have been held concurrently by the current president, Nelson Antônio de Souza, since he took office in December 2024, shortly after the Federal Police's Operation Compliance Zero .

In addition to the arrest of Vorcaro and four directors of Master, the then president of BRB, Paulo Henrique Costa, and the financial director at the time, Dario Oswaldo Garcia Júnior, were removed from their positions by the courts as part of the investigations.

Souza is a former Caixa employee and was given carte blanche by Governor Ibaneis Rocha (MDB) to implement the changes he deems necessary.

And these changes at the top, according to another source, also aim to restore the bank's functions and show shareholders and the market that BRB is operating normally, at a time when Ibaneis is the target of criticism in Brasília's political circles and may still be questioned in the National Congress in a possible CPI (Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry) regarding the failed purchase of Master .

Since the Central Bank vetoed BRB's purchase of Master on September 3, 2025, the public bank's preferred shares have fallen by almost 40% up to the trading session on Monday, January 19 of this year. The financial institution's market value is R$ 3.4 billion.

In the second week of January, two new executive directors of BRB were appointed: Hugo Andreolly Albuquerque (Digital Business) and Janiele Queiroz Mendes (Human Resources). Also appointed as new board members of the bank were: Edison Garcia – current president of Companhia Energética de Brasília (CEB Holding) and slated to chair the Board of Directors in the first half of the year; Joaquim Luna; and Sérgio Ricardo Miranda.

Also elected was a new chairman of the bank's board of directors, Raphael Vianna, who is assuming the position on a provisional basis and could theoretically remain until April 30, when an ordinary general meeting – already scheduled – is expected to vote on and approve a new team of directors.

Before that, two other assemblies are also scheduled, but they will be extraordinary: one on February 5th, to remove two board members: the former Chairman of the Board, Marcelo Talarico, and board member Luís Fernando de Lara Resende. And another on February 19th to appoint the new nominated board members.

To replace Talarico, who has been on the Board for seven years and chaired the board since 2022, Raphael Vianna was elected the new chairman of the Board on the 15th. Vianna had already been a board member of the bank since the second half of last year, but did not participate in the negotiations for the attempted purchase of Master.

Lawyer Vianna held positions in the Ministry of Agriculture during the administration of former minister Blairo Maggi (Temer government) and also in the GDF – in the Civil House of Governor Ibaneis Rocha (MDB), in the first months of his first term, in 2019. He also worked as a federal prosecutor for the Attorney General's Office (AGU).

Vianna is also a partner in the law firm "Peres e Novacki," owned by Eumar Novacki, who was Maggi's executive secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture and recently acted in the trial of the coup plot as defense attorney for Anderson Torres, former Minister of Justice under former President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) – both were convicted and imprisoned by the Supreme Federal Court (STF).

However, the new president of Consad is not expected to remain in office for very long, and the trend is that he will leave even before then, in March, according to sources at the bank who are following the matter.

The challenge for BRB is significant. Beyond the devaluation of its shares and the reputational impact of its involvement with Master, the public bank needs to demonstrate that the change in leadership represents more than just a change of names. Until the investigations progress and the final figures of the financial hole are known, the future of the bank in the Federal District will remain contingent on decisions that extend beyond the balance sheet.