'What was done with BRB was cruel', says bank president about crisis with Master The president of Banco de Brasília (BRB), Nelson Antônio de Souza, detailed the bank's equity situation in a public hearing this Tuesday (9) at the Senate's Economic Affairs Committee. Questioned by senators from the Federal District, the executive classified as "cruel" the transactions between BRB and Banco Master – investigated by the Federal Police as the epicenter of the biggest financial scandal in the country's recent history. "What was done with the BRB was cruel, it was very difficult. The recovery of the BRB is not easy. The values ​​placed were very large between the purchase and sale of portfolios", stated Souza in response to Damares Alves (Republicanos-DF). The current CEO of BRB took office after the first phase of the Federal Police's Compliance Zero operation, which arrested and removed then president Paulo Henrique Costa from office. The former president remains in prison. At the Senate hearing, Nelson Souza released a balance of the billion-dollar transactions between BRB and Master. Banco de Brasília even tried to buy Master, from banker Daniel Vorcaro, but the transaction was blocked by the Central Bank. According to the balance of the current BRB management: R$30 billion were transacted between BRB and Master between 2024 and October 2025 (when the Compliance Zero operation came about). Of these, R$21.9 billion were incorporated into BRB's assets as "assets". Of this amount, R$12.12 billion were the target of the Compliance Zero operation. And at least R$8.8 billion were non-existent, fraudulent or difficult to recover securities – in practice, "bad credit" that could turn into a hole in the bank's assets.] "Immediately, we detected that R$2.6 billion in the Tirreno [fund] portfolio did not exist. There was no backing, there was nothing. And we took all these portfolios and detected what we actually had to provision, to cover possible losses. It's R$8.8 billion", explained Souza. BRB President, Nelson Antônio de Souza, participates in a public hearing at the Senate Economic Affairs Committee. How to cover the R$8.8 billion shortfall? Of these R$8.8 billion of "possible losses", BRB wants to cover R$6.6 billion with a loan from the Credit Guarantee Fund (FGC). To achieve this, it was necessary to mediate an agreement involving the Union and the Federal Supreme Court, since the DF's public accounts are compromised and, according to the rules of fiscal prudence, it could not take out a loan of this size. ➡️ The agreement was approved by STF minister Luiz Fux, but has not yet been implemented. According to Souza, it is still necessary to complete protocol steps – among them, the approval of an endorsement from the Legislative Chamber of the Federal District. ➡️ The loan provides for the money to come from the FGC, a fund that is supplied by the largest private banks in the country and serves, precisely, as a safety cushion for crises in the banking system. ➡️ If the DF does not pay the loan on time, private banks act as guarantors. And, as a counter-guarantee, they can keep the transfers that the DF should receive, in the coming decades, from the Municipal Participation Fund (FPM) and the State Participation Fund (FPE). BRB President promises to release delayed balance sheet by June 30 If the loan is issued and the DF transfers this amount to BRB, the bank would then be able to guarantee R$6.6 billion of the R$8.8 billion (75% of the estimated shortfall). The remaining R$2.2 billion would come from the securitization of the DF's active debt – that is, from the sale of the rights to collect part of the debts that the DF government has to receive in taxes and contracts. According to the president of BRB, a first offering of these debts to the market has already raised R$1.17 billion. The government hopes to sell two other "lots" and raise, in total, up to R$3 billion with this mechanism. Nelson Antônio de Sousa, president of BRB TV Globo/reproduction