Banco Master May Be Brazil’s Biggest Banking Fraud, Haddad Warns

Brazilian Finance Minister Fernando Haddad says he supported the central bank’s decision to liquidate Banco Master SA, and warned that the case may amount to the largest banking fraud in the country’s history.

Haddad told reporters on Tuesday he is in constant contact with the head of the central bank, Gabriel Galipolo, whose handling of the case has drawn scrutiny from both Brazil’s Supreme Court and its federal audit court. The rare judicial attention has raised concerns about legal certainty for the central bank’s regulatory decisions.

The Banco Master headquarters in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025.

Photographer: Victor Moriyama/Bloomberg

“We may be facing the largest banking fraud in the country’s ...