Banco do Brasil’s top management will have more people beholden to the government

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – It is expected that Fausto Ribeiro, appointed to the command of the Banco do Brasil (BB) in place of André Brandão, will take office today, April 1st. The act depends on a presidential decree, which is also expected to be published today.

Otherwise, the inauguration is expected to take place next Monday. The changes should occur due to the will not only of the future administration, but also of the government itself, which intends to set up a board with people it trusts. In light of this, the current vice-presidents have started to move.

If before some were considering jumping ship, after the initial commotion of the change, they decided to wait for the new president. A source says that Ribeiro is “well-meaning”. Thus, most of the current BB’s vice-presidents are considering staying with the bank, depending on the will of the new management.

The interaction between the current BB vice-presidents and Ribeiro has already started, especially with the candidates to stay on. The objective of the vice-presidents is to make a “calm” transition, respecting the bank and its shareholders, among them, the government itself.

One of the names that may be part of the new board is the executive secretary of the Ministry of Citizenship Antônio Barreto. He is tipped to take on a vice-presidency, preferably one that has relations with the government. Today, the attribution is with the vice-presidency linked to agribusiness.

Planalto should have more influence on the board

The future BB board of directors will have three new members with the fingerprints of the Planalto Palace, instead of being nominated by the Ministry of Economy, as was once usual. Special Secretary of Finance of the Ministry of Economy Waldery Rodrigues Junior will assume the presidency of the board. The new composition also puts an end to the Bolsonaro government’s promise to have a board with a “private” and “technical” face.

Despite the fact that two of the new members announced by the government have experience in BB, the new board was considered to have little experience in the banking sector. The move, according to sources, also represents a “step back” in the governance rules of the giant financial institution, since it reduces board members with a free-market profile, substituting them with professional background only in the public sector.

BB declined to comment.

Source: Estadão

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