Senate may stop PL on discrimination against politician – 06/15/2023 – Power

The bill approved in the Chamber of Deputies that targets financial institutions to criminalize what it considers to be discrimination against politicians is expected to face resistance in the Senate.

It was approved in the Chamber on Wednesday night (14th), by 252 to 163, amid protests from the parliamentarians both for its content and the speed with which it was analyzed in plenary. The text was not on the session’s agenda and had its urgency and merits approved on the same day.

Authored by deputy Dani Cunha (União Brasil-RJ), daughter of the impeached federal deputy and former mayor Eduardo Cunha, the proposal criminalizes “discrimination” committed “because of the condition of politically exposed person”, such as refusal to granting credit or opening a checking account.

The bill provides for a prison sentence of two to four years, in addition to a fine.

Senators heard by Sheet claim that the pace adopted by the mayor, Arthur Lira (PP-AL), for a project considered controversial should not be repeated in the Senate, where there is a chance that it will not even be discussed.

Even if the House wants to proceed, the proposal must be submitted to the CCJ (Commission for the Constitution of Justice) —which will hardly happen before the parliamentary recess.

The PL was approved with the votes of parliamentarians from the centrão and acronyms from the base of the Lula government, including the PT. Only Novo and the PSOL-Rede federation were against the text — the opposition also advised against it, while the government did not.

This Thursday morning (15), Senate President Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG) stated that he was not even aware of the existence of the text, but said that it would be processed like any other project.

“I don’t know this text, I didn’t even know about the existence of this project in the Chamber. But, obviously, approved in the Chamber, it will reach the Senate and we will know the text and identify which committees it has to go through. But I don’t know the text, I cannot give an opinion,” he said.

Among Senate lawmakers, the view is that the bill is unclear in its intentions and contains a number of confusing provisions.

The text considers politically exposed persons to be the highest positions in the Republic, including president, federal deputies and senators. But it also encompasses a series of political positions: presidents and treasurers of parties, state deputies, city councilors, governors and mayors, among others.

Under the proposal, the status of politically exposed person remains valid for up to five years after the person leaves their public function. The benefits provided for in the text extend to family members, “close collaborators” and companies of people in these conditions.

The bill was briefly commented on by some Senate leaders and criticized by Senator Jorge Kajuru (PSB-GO), leader of the bench, at a meeting this Thursday.

The parliamentarians say that they have not yet received the text formally from the Chamber, but they criticize, for example, the device that prevents financial institutions from denying the opening of accounts or credit to politicians.

According to the proposal, banks can no longer deny credit, for example, to politically exposed people just because of this condition. Currently, denial for being a politically exposed person is possible.

If approved as it stands, the bill also prohibits financial institutions from blocking funding to defendants in ongoing lawsuits.

Leader of the largest group in the Senate, Otto Alencar (PSD-BA), told the Sheet consider the project important, since parliamentarians have suffered recurrent attacks. He stressed, however, that this is his personal view, and not that of the bench.

“This is my personal opinion. The law is right, but it arrives late. I was threatened at the Covid CPI, I still land at Brasília airport with security guards today. Now, I would not take the initiative to do the project, but I think it is legislation that really needed it. I’ve been the victim of attacks a few times, I’ve been threatened and I think that’s right,” he said.

In the plenary of the Chamber on Wednesday, the leader of União Brasil, Elmar Nascimento (BA), made an emphatic defense of the proposal. He stated that the project is not his authorship, “but it’s like there was my [assinatura]”, and said that it was he who asked the college of leaders for the urgency of the text to be proposed.

“What we don’t accept is discrimination. Enough of people who do the wrong thing pointing the finger at politicians. I don’t accept a bank manager being able to say whether or not I can keep an account, that my car insurance or my my daughter is more expensive or cheaper. This type of frivolous discrimination against politicians must cease to exist. And we have to face these things head on”, he said.

In a note, deputy Dani Cunha defended her proposal. She claims that the project aims to “make it mandatory for every citizen to open and maintain a bank account”, not just politicians.

“The project also prevents the denial of credit to the politically exposed person or who is under investigation or suffers action”, says the deputy’s note.

In a note, Transparency International states that the project was approved in an accelerated rite and threatens the national financial system.

“Today, when banks observe that there are risks of money laundering in their clients’ activities, they can refuse to provide certain services or even terminate the contractual relationship. In cases of prospective clients, they can refuse to open accounts when they identify excessive risks “, he states.

“By criminalizing the adoption of these conducts, which aim to reduce the risks of money laundering, the bill subverts the logic of incentives to which financial institutions are subject”, says the text.

For the group, the measures provided for in the proposal may make it difficult to identify suspicious financial transactions involving politically exposed persons or persons involved in investigations or criminal proceedings.

“Brazil is currently undergoing three assessments on compliance with anti-corruption and anti-money laundering measures – by the Gafi, by the Anti-Bribery Working Group of the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) and by the UNCAC (United Nations Convention against Corruption)–, which may be negatively impacted by the approval of this bill by the National Congress. There is a risk that Brazil –and its financial institutions– will be considered sources of additional money laundering risks for not applying these prevention mechanisms, which would threaten the entire national financial system.”