The Central Bank of Paraguay (BCP) said it will respond within 15 business days to information requests approved by the Chamber of Senators concerning procedures and decisions by the monetary authority itself and the Superintendency of Banks (SIB), the body responsible for banking supervision.
The requests cover mergers, acquisitions, transactions with related companies, capital criteria, risk concentration, possible deferral of losses, and deposits of public funds and funds belonging to the Social Security Institute (IPS). The processes cited include the integrations of GNB with BBVA, Sudameris with Regional, Ueno with Visión, and Continental with Río, as well as the transaction between Atlas and Familiar, which is currently suspended. This set is broader than the specific request for information on four banks and includes questions about the BCP’s regulatory role.
BCP President Carlos Carvallo said the institution’s technical teams and the SIB have been working since the requests were approved to prepare rigorous responses. He described legislative oversight as a positive institutional channel and said the clarifications should “dispel any doubts” about the health of the system and the institutional standing of the Central Bank. The institution also indicated that it will respond within the applicable legal framework.
The issue was at the center of Santiago Peña’s meeting with Carvallo, BCP representatives, bank presidents and leaders of the Association of Banks of Paraguay (Asoban), held on September 18, 2026, at Mburuvicha Róga. Juan José Galeano, the presidential adviser for Social and Economic Affairs, and representatives of financial institutions also took part. The Presidency said there would be a press briefing at the end of the meeting, at which Carvallo and Asoban Chief Executive Liz Cramer spoke about the results.
Ueno Bank received particular attention because it appeared among the institutions named in the requests and because it had concentrated public funds in recent years. Press reports linked the bank to Peña’s former business partners and raised suspicions of preferential treatment, but those allegations were not presented in the sources as independently proven facts. The formally confirmed point is the institution’s inclusion in the Senate requests.
Carvallo defended the system’s strength and linked its performance to the opportunities created by obtaining investment-grade status, highlighting the banking sector’s role in economic development. According to official data for June 2026, banks and finance companies recorded liquidity of 31.54%, solvency of 17.03%, nonperforming loans of 2.84% and profitability of 18.60%. Over the 12-month period, credit to the private sector grew by 14.42% and deposits by 19.40%. The BCP president also said stress tests indicate an ability to absorb external shocks.
Liz Cramer said the institutions cited are willing to provide information and support the BCP’s responses. The association asked for exceptional measures adopted in merger and acquisition processes to be published uniformly and called for comparable, reliable information to protect depositors, investors and public funds. In a statement, Asoban also stressed that the BCP and the SIB must exercise their legal responsibilities with technical autonomy to preserve the system’s solvency and the security of deposits.
Economist and former Finance Minister Manuel Ferreira warned that publicly exposing specific banks could fuel rumors and affect confidence. He noted that Paraguay’s financial system is now larger than it was during the banking crises of the 1990s and 2000s: “just as it is bigger, you fall from higher up.”