Banks reach agreements with BC to pay BRL 135 million to customers and public coffers for irregularities

Financial institutions fined by the Central Bank in 2022 due to different irregularities will have to pay a total of BRL 135 million to public coffers and affected customers. Practices recorded range from undue interest charges on overdrafts to failures in procedures to prevent money laundering and combat terrorist financing.

Just as a pecuniary contribution (amount that goes to the government and represents a form of compensation for banks, cooperatives and other entities for the infractions committed), it will be R$ 53.8 million. The amount is 8.6% higher (in nominal terms) than that collected in 2021, when the BC signed almost twice as many commitment terms with the entities – there were 12 in 2022, compared to 23 agreements signed in the previous year.

The peak was registered in 2020, when a single institution paid more than 70% of the total R$ 126.5 million in pecuniary contributions. The agreement involved issues such as the communication of atypical transactions to Coaf (Council for the Control of Financial Activities).

That year, there was a boost in bank transactions amid the Covid-19 pandemic due to greater use of digital channels and government programs (such as emergency aid).

The BC prefers not to attribute the reduction in 2022 to a specific reason, but says that the supervisory work has proved to be “quite successful” in solving problems. “Many factors influence the signing of terms of commitment, which are always proposed by the regulated institutions, analyzed by the BC and, if applicable, signed between the parties”, he says.

In an event on the five years of the law that provides for the sanctioning administrative process in the spheres of action of the BC, in November, attorney general Cristiano Cozer stressed that the term of commitment is an administrative contract, without the formation of a judgment as to the guilt of the financial institution and that does not reach the criminal sphere.

“It is a method of consensual resolution of a conflict. It allows reaching a solution through a consensus between the parties, without there being a dispute. It has an efficiency advantage, it allows a solution that is directed to the problem”, he said .

“If there is an irregular charge of a tariff, opening a sanctioning administrative process does not cause the tariff to be returned. Having a term of commitment, you solve it and resolve it wholesale”, he added.

According to BC data, BRL 81.1 million must be reimbursed to users for agreements signed in 2022. Santander’s share, alone, corresponds to the refund of BRL 79 million to clients for infractions such as violation of interest collection rules in overdraft and credit card installment operations.

According to the bank, the reimbursement of around 90% of the amounts charged has already been made and “the points that led to the signing of the term of commitment have been definitively resolved.”

According to the monetary authority, there are no reports of non-compliance with formalized agreements and, in the case of pecuniary contributions, all have already been received within the established deadlines.

Of the 76 terms of commitments signed since 2018, 41 have already been fulfilled and the other 35 are in the implementation or evaluation phase.

The last agreement of this year was signed in November, when the BV bank (Votorantim) undertook not to promote changes, without authorization, in its corporate structure.

The institution says that the term is related to questions “strictly formal and that required internal process adjustments, in order to avoid any future discussions on the subject with the regulator”.

A month earlier, BV had agreed to pay BRL 15 million for failures in procedures to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing.

According to the bank, the settlement was closed with the aim of “improving its internal processes”. “BV continuously reinforces its risk management systems and internal controls, always operating within the highest standards of governance”, he says.

In May, former administrators of BV Financeira, the bank’s company, agreed to the amount of BRL 540,000 in compensation for operational failures related to the payment of credit card bills in installments. “This procedure follows the procedural rites of the BV and does not constitute any confession or recognition of illegality”, he says.

Banco BV was the second institution to be assessed by the regulator in the last year for supervising security mechanisms related to the prevention of money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism.

In October, Itaú agreed to pay R$19 million for the same failures. The bank also committed to submitting an action plan to the BC that includes improvements in its procedures.

“Although no serious flaws were found in investigations carried out by the competent authorities, the bank decided to sign the commitment as one more step in improving its procedures for the proper use of the National Financial System and the fight against illegal practices”, he says.

In the two cases of the Société Générale bank, the violations described are related to foreign exchange operations involving the head office in France and the branch in Brazil.

With the agreements, the French bank was responsible for the payment of R$ 1 million and the Brazilian representative the contribution of R$ 3.8 million. When contacted, Société Générale preferred to refrain from commenting on the matter.

The infractions committed by the Cetelem bank, according to the signed term, correspond to topics such as irregularities in the collection of interest and financing charges for revolving credit.

For the acts, the entity committed itself to reimburse around R$ 2 million to more than 658 thousand customers, in addition to paying R$ 650 thousand to BC as compensation for the practices.

“All obligations contained in the term of commitment with the BC were fulfilled. The pecuniary contributions were duly collected and amounts refunded to customers”, he says.

In cases involving smaller amounts, the cooperative Sicredi Aliança PR/SP, affiliated to the Sicredi system, signed an agreement worth BRL 150,000 for having, according to a document, carried out credit advance operations to its depositors and failed to fulfill duties related to inspection of the entity.

According to the cooperative, the obligations assumed were fully complied with and all measures taken. “Improvements were implemented in its operating procedures and internal controls, which can be proven in the audit report”, he says. “Sicredi reinforces that it strictly complies with BC legislation and determinations”, he adds.

Sicoob (Brazilian Credit Cooperative System) in the state of São Paulo was left to pay R$ 200,000 for, according to the registry, failing to supervise the acts of cooperative management bodies and to comply with legal and statutory duties related to the central cooperative attribution.