LatinNews Daily - 05 February 2026

*Brazil’s senate has formed a sub-committee to investigate the high-profile fraud case involving the collapsed mid-sized bank Banco Master. The case emerged in November after the bank’s CEO Daniel Vorcaro was temporarily arrested and the bank was liquidated. In recent months, the case has become increasingly politicised. Not only have prominent figures in Brazil’s financial sector and business establishment been implicated in the fraud probe, but media scrutiny has also been rising on Vorcaro’s political connections and possible ties to the justices on the supreme court (STF). Despite recent reports in the media suggesting that there is a rising appetite in congress to launch an official committee inquiry (CPI), the senate has only formed a sub-committee which will hold meetings with and request information from the relevant authorities overseeing the Banco Master case or related cases, such as the STF, the central bank (BCB), the federal audit court (TCU), and the federal police (PF). The senate sub-committee that will focus on the Banco Master case comprises legislators that sit on the senate’s economic affairs standing committee (CAE), such as centrist lawmaker Renan Calheiros (Movimento Democrático Brasileiro, MDB), the head of the CAE.