By Brazil Stock Guide – A São Paulo state court granted temporary judicial protection to Grupo Fictor, suspending enforcement actions, collection efforts and asset freezes against the conglomerate for a 30-day period. The ruling follows the group’s request for judicial recovery filed on Sunday (1), citing liabilities of about 4 billion reais.
The decision was issued by Judge Adler Batista Oliveira Nobre of the 3rd Bankruptcy and Judicial Recovery Court. It applies to Fictor Invest and Fictor Holding, which sought emergency relief to prevent new court-ordered seizures while their recovery request is under review.
In his ruling, the judge also halted the statute of limitations on the companies’ obligations. According to the decision, the measure aims to preserve operational cash flow without reversing actions already finalized. “The suspension should prevent new constraints that strangle operational cash flow, but it does not undo expropriatory acts already perfected or release amounts already frozen — it only prevents their withdrawal — under penalty of risking asset dissipation before the company’s real situation is verified,” the judge wrote.
Grupo Fictor came under heightened scrutiny after attempting to acquire Banco Master one day before the lender was liquidated by Brazil’s central bank. Last week, the São Paulo Court of Justice had ordered a precautionary freeze of 150 million reais linked to the group.
In its court filing, the company said it faces intense legal pressure from individual lawsuits filed by investors seeking asset freezes. According to the group, these cases total more than 800,000 reais in claimed amounts. The filing describes the situation as a “generalized panic among participating partners.”
The group argued that the spread of such measures could undermine its operational liquidity and make it impossible to meet financial obligations without temporary court protection.
Civil law scholar Ermiro Ferreira Neto, who holds a doctorate from the University of São Paulo, outlined the next procedural steps. “Until then, lawsuits filed by investors will remain suspended. The recovery plan must be voted on in an assembly, where those entitled to receive funds through SCPs may approve or reject it; if rejected, the group will have bankruptcy declared,” he said.
The judicial recovery request will now proceed through further court review, including the submission and potential vote on a restructuring plan.
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