Brazilian Banks under investigation for enforcing heavy restrictions

Trust and banks don’t usually get along nowadays. Especially when it comes to monopolistic practices and interest rates. Six Brazilian banks have fallen under investigation for said practices in the crypto space. According to the report, the Administrative Council for Economic defense (CADE), which is also the country’s antitrust regulator, has launched a probe. The probe has the task to find if the country’s biggest banks are responsible for account closing of several brokerages trading in Bitcoin. CADE also operates under the country’s ministry of Justice (MJ).

Brazilian Banks and malicious practices

The article mentioned that CADE’s investigation was done at the request of several complaints. They were filed to the Brazilian Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Association (ABCB). One particular complaint stated that one of the Brazilian Banks, Banco do Brasil was responsible for closing the account of a local crypto trading platform named Atlas Quantum.

Banco do Brasil is one of the Brazilian bansk that will be investigated by the ongoing probe. Banco Bradesco, Itau Unibanco Holding, Banco Santander Brasil and Banco Inter will face heavy investigation.

A report from CADE stated that the banks in question are enforcing heavy restrictions and even prohibitions on cryptocurrency brokerages. In essence this is blocking their entire access to the financial system. The Brazilian banks are saying that the broker accounts are closed due to the lack of client data. Insufficient client data is against the national anti-money laundering laws.

The report featured comments from Antitrust experts, some of which state that:

“Illegal activities should be avoided at all costs. It’s paramount to a bank’s reputation that restrictive measures are taken, even if there are small indications of crimes committed by the account holders. This is however, very suspicious because of the scale of restrictive measures applied. The banks applied these measures on a straight-line basis to all crypto companies. This was also done without any examination of the compliance level and anti-fraud measures which the affected companies use.”

Banco do Brasil, which is the largest bank in Brazil and Latin America, stated that the company has a firm commitment to competitive practices based on respect on the competition and ethics.

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