Economist Daniella Marques was sworn in on Friday night (1st) as the new president of Caixa Econômica Federal.
The inauguration took place at an extraordinary meeting of the bank’s board of directors, after approval of his name by the institution’s eligibility committee.
Marques was nominated to take the place of Pedro Guimarães, who left office after accusations of sexual harassment. She was appointed by President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) on Wednesday (29), after the resignation of the now former president.
The new president of Caixa wants to create a crisis committee to investigate the episodes narrated by the victims and identify others who might be involved.
Marques is the person most trusted by Minister Paulo Guedes (Economy), with whom he worked in the financial market before joining the current government.
The two embarked on Bolsonaro’s project together during the campaign, in 2018, and took office on the first day of the current administration.
The accusations of sexual harassment against Guimarães were revealed on Tuesday (28) by the Metrópoles portal, which also reported the existence of an investigation by the Federal Public Ministry.
The women narrated episodes such as intimate touches without consent, invitations incompatible with the professional environment and other inappropriate behavior.
On Thursday (30), the council had already decided to hire an external audit to investigate allegations of sexual harassment and track other members of the top who covered up the situation.
The decision to hire an outsourced company to conduct the investigation was taken after reports from women victims of harassment indicated that the episodes were known to at least part of Caixa’s board and vice-presidents.
The assessment of the collegiate is that leaving the investigation in the hands of internal control bodies is not the best way to obtain an independent diagnosis, given the suspicion of involvement of other members of the institution’s top management.
The board was also informed of the resignation of Caixa’s vice president of Wholesale Business, Celso Leonardo Barbosa, and accepted it.
The collegiate dismissed four strategic advisors and Guimarães’ chief of staff. Occupying positions of trust and without functional ties to Caixa, the group was considered the “hard core” of the former president.
On the morning of this Friday (1st), the vice president was informed by the chairman of the board of directors, Rogerio Rodrigues Bimbi, that he would need to leave the position. Hours later, Barbosa gathered his team to announce the fact.
The board even considered removing him immediately or removing him for a specified period until new information was obtained, but the executive ended up choosing to resign.
The suspicion of people connected to the bank is that Barbosa may have helped to cover up the situation. He was considered the number two in Guimarães and frequently replaced him in command of the institution. He was also a close and faithful ally to the now-ex-president.
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