Brazil

Brazil has Latin America's largest banking system. Bank-led prudential conglomerates held R$16.7tn (US$3.2tn) of assets in June 2026, about 142% of GDP, and 170 commercial, multiple, savings, exchange, investment and development banks are authorised by the Banco Central do Brasil. Concentration is high: Itaú Unibanco, Banco do Brasil, Caixa Econômica Federal, Bradesco and Santander Brasil held two-thirds of banking-segment assets. The state retains a large footprint through Banco do Brasil, Caixa and the development bank BNDES, while credit cooperatives, with more than R$1tn of assets and 21.2 million members in 2025, are steadily gaining share.