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Automatically translated version. May contain inaccuracies compared to the original.
🌐 THE PRESIDENT'S BANK WAS CLOSED IN ONE NIGHT
A week before the collapse the bank announced it had raised 100 million dollars of new capital. And on 3 November three million people woke up and could not withdraw a single guaraní. Until last year the serving president of the country was among the holding's shareholders.
Paraguay, Ueno Bank. One of the country's largest banks and the largest digital bank. It has about three million customers, roughly 60% of the adult population. On the evening of 2 November the central bank's board unanimously decided to take it under control; on 3 November the bank was closed. Operations are suspended; it is impossible to withdraw or transfer money.
The reason is in the numbers. Capital adequacy fell to 5,56% against a legal minimum of 12%, i.e., below half the required level. As early as June the central bank warned Ueno that it was over-lending to companies within its own group. According to the prosecutor's version, in 2025–2026 years the bank issued loans and overdrafts to firms in its own holding on terms that did not reflect a normal risk assessment. Charges have already been brought against 27 people. Founder and largest shareholder Miguel Vázquez was detained; the prosecutor is seeking pretrial detention for him.
Public funds were hit hardest. Ueno holds between 800 and 850 million dollars of public money, about 380 million of which is from the state pension fund IPS. 32 thousand pensioners received their pensions through the bank. The fund promises to pay as usual, is moving people to another bank, and is preparing a lawsuit.
Now about politics. The bank belongs to Grupo Vázquez, and President Santiago Peña was a business partner of the group until March 2025. Central Bank head Carlos Carvalho previously ran the financial company from which Ueno emerged. He submitted a resignation statement, and the regulator assures that Carvalho did not participate in decisions regarding Ueno. Peña said the guilty will answer before the courts “without exceptions and without privileges.” The opposition is preparing impeachment, but it needs votes from the ruling Colorado Party, which controls both chambers.
Depositors are guaranteed up to 228,3 million guaraníes per person, about 38 thousand dollars. That covers roughly 97% of clients. The remaining 3%, more than 80 thousand people, face greater risk. The first payment is promised up to 10 million guaraníes, approximately 1700 dollars, and with no clear date.
This scheme will be familiar to Ukrainian readers. In December 2016 PrivatBank was nationalized, and the National Bank said that 97% of its corporate loans had been issued to companies related to the owners. The hole was filled with state money. The mechanics are the same: the bank collects depositors' and state money, then lends it to its own.
We advise viewing a bank the same way you would any counterparty. Who does it lend to? Has the regulator issued a warning that nobody read? Who stands behind the shareholders? Answers almost always lie in the public record long before the doors close.
💼 A bank that lends to its own keeps money not for clients. It keeps it for the owners.
Telegram publication
