Opinion – Panel SA: Sebrae will open a bank in Lula’s first year

The Sebrae (Brazilian Service of Support for Micro and Small Enterprises) already has R$ 600 million to open, in 2023, the doors of a bank aimed exclusively at serving small businesses that face difficulties in taking credit in the market.

According to Carlos Melles, president of Sebrae, the institution will not give credit directly. “It’s not for lending money. We’re going to act as credit guarantors,” he told Panel SA.

Interlocutors of the president-elect, Lula, say that the leader should continue to lead the institution. The Central Bank has already approved the operating license for the new bank, which will operate as a fintech.

Named SebraeCred, the institution will partner with several banks, especially Caixa and Banco do Brasil, which will carry out loan operations with the guarantees given by the Sebrae bank.

In practice, the institution will sell guarantees, boosting the experience with Fampe (Micro and Small Business Guarantee Fund).

Through this fund, Sebrae has already granted R$ 25 billion in guarantees to its members (future customers of its bank) by charging a fee that is levied on the loan taken from another bank. The fee charged feeds back the fund.

According to Melles, in addition to Fampe, other funds should also back SebraeCred’s operations. They are: FGI (from BNDES) and FGO (Banco do Brasil). “We closed a partnership with BNDES recently and we are working with BB”, said Melles.

SebraeCred will be led by the former president of Caixa, Gilberto Occhi. Affiliated to the PP (Progressistas), the party of the president of the Chamber, Arthur Lira, Occhi was also a minister in the Dilma and Temer governments.

Carlos Eduardo Sampaio Lofrano, former director of the bank of the former BM&F Bovespa, currently B3, will also be part of the board.

On the board of directors, responsible for defining the bank’s general lines of action, are Bruno Quick Lourenço de Lima (technical director of Sebrae), João Manoel Pinho de Mello (former director of BC), José Caetano de Andrade Minchillo (manager of Capitalization and Financial Services unit at Sebrae) and Wilson Martins Poit (former superintendent of Sebrae-SP).