Brasilia - The chairman of the Senate's Economic Affairs Committee (CAE), Senator Renan Calheiros (MDB-AL), criticized the actions of the Securities and Exchange Commission (CVM) in the alleged fraud scheme led by Banco Master. He also promises to summon authorities from the regulatory body as part of the working group he created to investigate the case.
Investigations by the Federal Police (PF) have so far indicated that investment funds participated in irregular transactions with Master. On Monday, January 19, the Minister of Finance, Fernando Haddad, revealed that the government is already discussing a proposed law to allow the Central Bank (BC) to also oversee these funds – by law, this competence has been exclusive to the CVM since 2001.
“In fact, the Federal Police, the Central Bank, and the Federal Audit Court need to do now what the Securities and Exchange Commission [CVM] failed to do. They need to work against the damage and in favor of society and the financial system itself,” Calheiros told NeoFeed .
The senator also believes that the regulation of this oversight of funds should only happen after the investigation and eventual punishment of those responsible. He added that he doesn't believe Haddad would advocate for such regulation without punishment: "It would be the end of the financial system."
"Moreover, the entity that should have the most interest in this investigation is the financial system itself, which will not be the same after the Master scandal, a shadow bank associated with the PCC and sectors of Faria Lima that is manipulating the investigation itself," said the senator.
In recent days, Calheiros also revealed that he had information indicating political interference in the TCU (Federal Court of Accounts) to pressure the Central Bank regarding the Master case. He claimed this offensive originated from the Speaker of the House, Hugo Motta (Republicanos-PB), and the former Speaker of the House, Arthur Lira (PP-AL), a political opponent of Calheiros.
“We have received information about strong pressure from the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the former Speaker [of the House] on a sector of the Federal Court of Accounts. The TCU has a mandate to oversee the Central Bank, but in line with the country's interest and not placing limits on its own investigation,” Calheiros said in a post on his social media on Friday, the 16th.
The recent avalanche of criticism against the CVM (Brazilian Securities and Exchange Commission) has emerged at a time when the agency is also awaiting a new, effective president.
On Wednesday, January 7th, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) nominated Otto Lobo to head the CVM, but his name still needs to be approved by the Senate, both in plenary session and in Calheiros' CAE, upon the resumption of Congressional activities.
Criticized by experts and the capital market for being appointed after pressure from the Centrão (a political bloc in Brazil), Lobo became a director of the CVM (Brazilian Securities and Exchange Commission) in 2021 and even took over the CVM on an interim basis in 2025.
The group of senators announced by Calheiros has yet to be formed and will only begin working in February, when the National Congress returns from its parliamentary recess.
But their plan is already drawn up: in addition to requesting documents from regulatory bodies and the courts, the board first wants to call authorities from the CVM (Brazilian Securities and Exchange Commission), PF (Federal Police), PGR (Attorney General's Office), and TCU (Federal Court of Accounts) to discuss the ongoing investigations and also evaluate the liquidation process of Master.
Other objectives of the group will be to discuss the role of the Credit Guarantee Fund ( FGC ) in the case and to analyze whether the recent changes to the Fund's rules would be sufficient, or whether there would be a need for additional changes to the fund.
For these public hearings, the group wants to invite representatives from the FGC (Credit Guarantee Fund), the Central Bank, the Ministry of Finance, Febraban (Brazilian Federation of Banks), Anbima (Brazilian Association of Financial and Capital Market Entities), and the Brazilian Association of Banks (ABBC).
When contacted, the CVM (Brazilian Securities and Exchange Commission) sent the following statement to NeoFeed :
"The CVM values the Senator's initiative, as a measure by Parliament aimed at improving the functioning of institutions essential to the proper performance of the capital market. The agency is available to the CAE for institutional interactions and clarifications regarding its activities."
