House leaders sign urgency request for bill giving Congress power to dismiss BC leadership

House leaders from Centrão parties in the Chamber of Deputies signed an urgency request today to accelerate the passage of a bill that allows Congress to remove the President and directors of the Central Bank (BC), amid pressure to approve the purchase of Banco Master by BRB. The urgency request movement is led by the PP, with Congressman Cláudio Cajado (PP-BA), vice president of the party, as the author of the request. The document was endorsed with the signatures of leaders from Centrão, opposition, and even the government’s base. On Tuesday afternoon, the leaders of PP, MDB, PL, PSB, and Republicans in the Chamber signed the urgency request. Together, the parties total more than 300 deputies, more than the 257 necessary to approve the regime that accelerates the passage of a text. The bill dates from 2021 and changes the autonomy rule of the BC, approved in the same year. The text establishes that the President and directors of the Central Bank will be removed if there is an approved request by an absolute majority of the Chamber of Deputies ‘when the conduct of the activities of the Central Bank is incompatible with national interests.’ Therefore, the proposal for removal will be subject to the approval, by an absolute majority, of the Federal Senate. Former Central Bank President Roberto Campos Neto criticized the proposal. ‘This bill would be very bad for the autonomy of the BC. It would be a step back on a major achievement of Brazilian society,’ he told O GLOBO. Campos Neto was the first BC president with a mandate due to autonomy. How can the BC leadership be removed? With the autonomy of the BC approved by Congress in 2021, during Jair Bolsonaro’s administration, the directors now have a fixed term of four years. According to current rules, only the President can dismiss the BC leadership, but in the following situations: At the director’s request; In case of illness that incapacitates the director from performing the duties; When held accountable through a final judgment or decision by a collegiate body, for committing administrative misconduct or a crime that results in a temporary ban from public office; When showing proven and recurring inadequate performance to achieve the objectives of the Central Bank of Brazil. The initiative comes at a time when the BC is preparing to finalize the analysis of the Banco Master acquisition by BRB. The expectation is that the review process of the deal between BRB and Master at the BC will conclude this week. Responsible for recommending the operation to the agency’s leadership, the Director of the Financial System Organization and Resolution, Renato Gomes, is most cautious about approving the deal, precisely because any future challenges to the transaction would fall on him personally. Headquarters of Banco Master and BRB: deal depends on BC authorization – Photo: Divulgação e Cristiano Mariz/Agência O Globo