New names for Petrobras, the 2nd largest digital bank arrives in Brazil and what matters in the market

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Homemade solution for Petrobras

After the withdrawals of Adriano Pires and Rodolfo Landim, the government presented this Wednesday (6th) the new names to preside over Petrobras and its board of directors.

Who is who:

President:

Board Chairman:

• Marcio Andrade Weber is already part of the Petrobras board. He is also a director of the Petroserv company and worked for the state company for 16 years.

Will will not: This is the second nomination that the government has given to the positions of Silva e Luna, who was fired amid criticisms by President Jair Bolsonaro of increasing fuel prices, and Eduardo Bacellar Leal Ferreira, who asked to step down.

Hurry: the choice of names was pressured by time, because the company’s general shareholders’ meeting is scheduled for the 13th. It is there that the change will be carried out in practice, since the government has enough votes to elect its representatives.

Light bill relief

The government decided to bring forward the end of the “water scarcity” flag to the 16th, announced President Jair Bolsonaro (PL). The extra fee of BRL 14.20 for every 100 kWh (kilowatt hours) consumed was implemented in September.

What explains: The heavy rains at the beginning of the year raised the average level of the reservoirs, especially those in the Southeast and Midwest regions, which are located in the area called the water tank of the electricity sector and have the highest volume of water since 2012.

• That is why, before the announcement, the market was already expecting the adoption of the green flag in May, as the current rate would expire in April.
• The water scarcity flag was created last year to pay for the hiring of thermal plants during the most critical period of the crisis, when the country was still under the risk of energy rationing.

In numbers: According to Bolsonaro, the electricity bill should have a reduction of about 20%. The savings will reach higher-income consumers, because low-income consumers have been without extra charges on their electricity bills for four months.

• With the rains, the average level of the reservoirs in the Southeast and Central-West regions reached 63.3% in March, almost double that recorded in the same month of 2021.
• In the free energy market, the price reduction had already taken place, with the MWh (megawatt-hour) costing R$ 55.70, the lowest possible value in the current system.

Second largest fintech arrives in Brazil

A new digital bank is coming to the country. The British Revolut lands with the banking of being the second largest in the world in market value, behind only Nubank.

In the last capture, in the middle of last year, the gringo was evaluated in $33 billion (R$ 155 billion). Nubank, which debuted on the New York Stock Exchange at US$ 41.5 billion, with the title of the most valuable bank in Latin America, saw its shares lose steam and is now worth around $35 billion (R$ 164 billion).

Fintech: Revolut will be played in Brazil by Glauber Mota, who was responsible for BTG Pactual’s digital bank. The company arrives in Brazil without the intention of reaching the clientele that Nubank has, of more than 50 million.

• With 18 million customers in 35 countries, the Briton should focus on higher-income customers and for that he has as his flagship the global account, which will compete with exchange houses.
• The bank’s account holders will have access to 28 currencies, and thus the IOF charge should drop from 6.38% to 1.1%, as they are transfers between accounts of the same ownership. The idea is to facilitate not only shopping on trips, but also on foreign sites.

Not the first: at the end of last year, the German N26 also started operating in Brazil as a digital bank. In common among all of them, is the bet on an adapted audience and attracted by the practicality generated by fintechs.

Ransomware gangs are in crisis

Two of the world’s top cybercrime gangs suffered significant casualties earlier this year.

Understand: while members of the REvil group were arrested in Russia, the Conti gang had its internal structure and documents revealed after an internal rift caused by support for Russia during the war in Ukraine.

The two specialize in ransomware, a type of attack on the rise in which criminals hijack company data and systems and demand ransoms paid in cryptocurrencies to release them.

Who is who:

• REvil: is the gang with the highest volume of attacks detected in 2021, according to an IBM report.
• Cont: has received U$ 180 million (approximately BRL 850 million) in the last year alone with extortion. The leaked documents show that the group analyzes victims’ balance sheets to determine the amount to be charged for the ransom.

why it matters: Ransomware-type crimes have also wreaked havoc in Brazil in recent years. The country has the ninth highest number of victims of this type of attack, according to Palo Alto Networks.

Last year, companies like JBS, Renner and Fleury were targeted by ransomware. This type of crime has also reached public bodies around here, such as the cases registered at the STJ (Superior Court of Justice) and the Ministry of Health.

New risks: these blows skyrocketed with the pandemic, when companies had to adapt their structures to work remotely.

Now, with the hybrid model, in which the employee will be able to connect his computer at home and at work, new security gaps may arise, experts say.