Caixa articulates political monitoring before going to the center – 08/26/2023 – Power

Caixa Econômica Federal launched a public consultation to hire a company to provide a detailed database of politically exposed persons (PEPs), including family members and close collaborators, in addition to monitoring in the national and international media of people mentioned in news involving various crimes.

The public bank is currently commanded by career public servant Rita Serrano, but her position is threatened due to President Lula’s (PT) negotiations to attract the centrão to his support base.

The group intends to place former deputy Margarete Coelho (PP-PI), one of the main allies of the mayor, Arthur Lira (PP-AL), in the vacancy.

In addition to the possible musical chairs, Caixa’s attempt to increase monitoring and control over PEPs whose names are associated with cases of corruption goes against the grain of a bill recently approved by the Chamber, under the leadership of the centrão.

The project criminalizes what it classifies as prejudice by financial institutions against PEPS, family members and employees by not authorizing the opening of accounts or by denying credit, among other points.

And establishes a penalty of up to 4 years in prison for “discrimination against politically exposed persons, against persons who are responding to a preliminary investigation, a detailed term, an inquiry or any other investigative procedure for a criminal, civil or administrative offense or against persons who appear as a defendant in an ongoing legal proceeding”.

The text was presented by congresswoman Dani Cunha (União Brasil-RJ) on May 25. She is the daughter of former mayor Eduardo Cunha, who left the House after having his mandate revoked in 2016, having been arrested later in the wake of Operation Lava Jato.

Reported by Deputy Claudio Cajado (PP-BA), another Lira ally, the project was approved in plenary just 22 days later, on June 14.

The fast-track procedure took place upon approval of an urgent request signed by the leader of União Brasil, Elmar Nascimento (BA), also from the Lira group, by the then leader of the mayor’s block, Felipe Carreras (PSB-PE), and by the leader of the opposition PL, Altineu Côrtes (RJ).

Since the end of June, the project has been in the Senate, led by Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG), but until now it is waiting for a decision to start processing it.

The text endorsed by the center also has an article establishing that “the family members and close collaborators of the politically exposed person, as well as the legal entities in which he participates, will also be reached by the protection of this law”.

The centrão has dominated congressional politics since he became a supporter of the Jair Bolsonaro government, in 2020. On several occasions, he led the loosening of anti-corruption legislation, as in the case of the relaxation of the Administrative Improbity Law, in 2021.

The term of reference prepared by Caixa in preparation for the bidding does not mention at any time the need for the politician to be condemned, which is the core of the project prepared and approved by the centrão in the Chamber.

The monitoring of PEPs, family members and employees by financial institutions follows international standards for combating corruption, money laundering and terrorism.

More accurate surveillance of these people’s bank transactions is intended to help identify crimes that involve embezzlement of funds from the public sector.

The Caixa document says that the contracted company must provide a daily updated database with “news from the monitoring of the national and international media, lists of sanctions/embargoes and negative media, in order to identify individuals and legal entities mentioned in news involving crimes related to corruption, money laundering, terrorist financing and related crimes”.

At another point, it establishes that the search for news “must be carried out in paid and unpaid articles, in printed and web versions, in all news sites on the Internet and in newspapers and magazines with the greatest circulation in the country”.

The document then lists a series of crimes, such as money laundering, corruption, embezzlement of public resources, drug trafficking, terrorist financing, embezzlement, slush funds, embezzlement, militia and tax evasion.

Caixa and other financial institutions follow the guidelines of Central Bank circular 3978/2020, which provides for the rules to be adopted in order to prevent the system from being used for money laundering, terrorism and correlates.

In 2019, the monetary authority even rehearsed an attempt to loosen the rules and remove the family members of politically exposed people from the monitoring list, but the measure did not prosper.

In a note, Caixa stated that it was obliged to comply with Law 9613/1998 (which deals with money laundering crimes and which created Coaf, the Financial Activities Control Council), in addition to the Central Bank circular.

In this context, says the bank, a public consultation was carried out to research prices in the market of companies that supply data on PEPs and media, a step that precedes the bidding process itself, which the bank did not say when exactly it intends to launch.

Caixa also said that it already has an internal system for monitoring and preventing money laundering, which includes information on politically exposed persons.

“The monitoring relies on intelligence developed by the institution itself, carried out internally, making use of external databases, in strict compliance with current legislation and regulations.”

The tender is part, he says, of a constant process of improving the model, “seeking the greatest mitigation of the risks associated with the practice of illicit acts”.