By Brazil Stock Guide – Itaú Unibanco Holding SA (ITUB4 BZ; ITUB US) terminated bank accounts tied to real estate receivable certificates managed by securitization firm Base after individuals connected to the company appeared in a Brazilian federal investigation.
The information was first reported by Valor Econômico. The accounts were used to manage cash flows for 19 issuances of Certificados de Recebíveis Imobiliários, or CRIs, a common structured finance instrument in Brazil’s real estate market.
Base informed investors that the bank notified the company on January 27 about the termination of accounts linked to the operations. The firm was given a 30-day period to migrate the services and open new accounts.
According to the company, new banking arrangements were established while maintaining the same operational structure. In a notice to investors, Base said the transition occurred “observing the same criteria of asset segregation and linkage.”
In some of the issuances, Itaú also stepped down from providing bookkeeping services for the securities.
The affected accounts were centralized or collection accounts typically used in securitization transactions to administer payment flows for securities such as CRIs.
The move followed developments in the Compliance Zero operation, an investigation conducted by Brazil’s Federal Police into alleged financial irregularities linked to Banco Master.
Among those targeted in the probe’s second phase is Cesar Reginato Ligeiro, founder of Base. In a statement, he said he has not been part of the company’s ownership or management since 2022.
Another individual cited in the investigation is Ricardo Batista de Siqueira Xavier, who appears as chief executive officer of the securitization firm in documents related to bond issuances carried out in 2024.
Founded in 2019, Base describes itself as a securitization company focused on structuring and acquiring credit operations in sectors including agribusiness and real estate.
Of the 19 CRIs involved, six list Reag as the fiduciary agent, an institution also mentioned in the investigation. The remaining issuances have Qore acting as the fiduciary agent representing investors.
Itaú said in a statement that it “continuously reviews its commercial relationships in line with its compliance policies,” adding that “in respect of bank secrecy, it does not comment on specific client cases.”
Base said the service termination occurred “for commercial reasons, which are common in the market,” and that replacing the banking provider does not change the structure of the securities.
The firm added that the transition “does not imply any change in investors’ rights, guarantees, remuneration, payment flows or other issuance conditions, which remain fully preserved according to the transaction documents and applicable regulation.”
Qore said the replacement of institutions responsible for operational services is decided by the issuer and the service providers involved in the transaction structure and is unrelated to the fiduciary agent’s duties. The company added that the change “does not impact the exercise of its functions.”
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