Brazil Audit Court Deferred Central Bank Accounts Ruling Over Master

Brazil’s Tribunal de Contas da União deferred judgment on the Banco Central do Brasil’s 2025 accounts pending resolution of a separate Banco Master proceeding. Folha de S.Paulo and Poder360 reported that the decision was taken by the audit court’s Second Chamber on 13 October. The deferral links approval of the regulator’s annual accounts to scrutiny of its supervision and liquidation of the failed lender.

The underlying proceeding, TC 022.950/2025-7, examines the central bank’s actions involving Banco Master. The TCU’s own search record identifies the case as a review of the sufficiency of supervision and resolution activity. Banco Master entered extrajudicial liquidation in November 2025 amid a severe liquidity crisis and investigations into allegedly fraudulent credit assets.

ACCOUNTS DECISION NOW DEPENDS ON MASTER CASE

Folha reported that the accounts review covers the central bank and its directors and that the chamber’s decision differed from a technical recommendation that found no irregularity. Poder360 said the accounts judgment will remain suspended until the Master proceeding reaches a final conclusion. The audit court has therefore not made a final adverse finding against the central bank in the accounts case.

The Master review is being led by TCU Minister Jhonatan de Jesus. Earlier technical work reported by Reuters in February found no fault with the central bank’s liquidation decision, but the substantive proceeding was later paused while parallel investigations continued. The new accounts decision preserves the linkage until that process is complete.

INSTITUTIONAL SCRUTINY REMAINS OPEN

The audit-court review has drawn attention because bank resolution normally falls within the central bank’s statutory remit. TCU oversight has focused on whether supervision and the steps leading to liquidation complied with legal and administrative requirements. The deferral increases the institutional consequences of the unresolved Master case without reversing the liquidation.

Approval of the 2025 accounts will now depend on a final decision in the Master proceeding, according to the reports. The next milestone is a dispositive TCU ruling in TC 022.950/2025-7, after which the accounts review can resume. Until then, the appropriate description is a deferred judgment, not a rejection of the central bank’s accounts or a finding of wrongdoing.