By Brazil Stock Guide – Banco Santander Brasil SA (SANB11) paid BRL 19.4 million to Banco Central do Brasil under a settlement addressing foreign-exchange control failures linked to the period when former central bank chief Roberto Campos Neto worked at the Spanish-owned lender.
The disclosure came during a Tuesday (25) hearing before the Senate’s Economic Affairs Committee, where Ailton de Aquino Santos, the central bank’s director of supervision, confirmed that Santander had signed its own commitment order, according to Valor Econômico, which also verified the payment figures.
Aquino said the agreement followed “the full bureaucratic process” and stressed that governance rules were met. Campos Neto, who left public office and now holds an executive role at Nubank (NU), had previously paid BRL 300,000 to close his individual administrative case.
Central Bank President Gabriel Galípolo told lawmakers the deal did not function as leniency and did not interrupt or prevent criminal investigations. “The central bank does not issue leniency agreements, especially those capable of halting a criminal probe,” he said, adding that the case involved “a process involving client-information reporting.”
Ricardo Saadi, head of Brazil’s financial-intelligence unit Coaf, said the settlement “does not hinder or prevent any eventual criminal investigations.”
Aquino noted that it was the first commitment order ever signed with a former central bank president. He said financial institutions may propose such agreements, which then undergo technical review. While confirming that Santander paid a fine as part of the settlement, he declined to disclose the exact amount. “Regardless of the fine, the financial institution must improve its controls — and that is what Santander did. That is the central point,” he said.
The agreement signed by Campos Neto in June refers to “alleged practices” involving insufficient verification of FX-transaction legality and client qualification at Banco Santander (Brasil) SA. Brazilian law holds that such instruments do not imply admission of wrongdoing and cannot be used for serious violations. According to Aquino, technical committees concluded that no grave infraction occurred.
He added that part of the control failures identified by supervisors predated Campos Neto’s role as a Santander director. “Part of the issues raised by supervision happened before his tenure as director. For a short period he was a director, and for that reason we included him in the administrative process,” he said.
Aquino described deficiencies such as incorrect data entry in Brazil’s foreign-trade system, Siscomex — involving nine transactions — and seven FX operations with companies lacking sufficient background information. He said he was confident the shortcomings did not confer undue advantages to corporate clients.
Senator Renan Calheiros, who presides over the committee, suggested that further steps — including a potential parliamentary inquiry — could be considered if additional information, including confidential data, became necessary.
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