Ueno Bank reported an exceptionally high level of intangible assets related to software systems in its 2025 financial statements. Under the category “Bienes Intangibles – Sistemas,” the bank recorded a net value of Gs. 761.444 billion, equivalent to roughly US$127 million.
By comparison, the corresponding assets reported by nine other major Paraguayan banks — Itaú, Continental, Sudameris, GNB, Familiar, Basa, Atlas, Interfisa and Bancop — totaled approximately Gs. 269.233 billion. Ueno’s reported figure is therefore close to three times the combined amount of those nine institutions.
The sharp increase within a single year is also notable. During the 2025 financial year, Ueno recorded additions of approximately Gs. 654.799 billion to its software systems, according to published financial data.
Paraguayan media have also used the current tender for a new core banking system at the state-owned Banco Nacional de Fomento (BNF) as a point of comparison. Technology company ITTI submitted an offer of Gs. 136 billion, or roughly US$22.7 million, for that project. Ueno’s reported software assets therefore have a book value equivalent to around 5.6 times the amount of ITTI’s bid.
The comparison, however, has clear limitations. Ueno’s figure represents the book value of its accumulated software systems, while ITTI’s bid concerns the delivery of a specific new core banking platform for the BNF.
According to Paraguayan media reports, ITTI belongs to the same corporate group as Ueno Bank. President Santiago Peña held investments in ITTI until 2025, and his former business links to companies within the group have consequently also become part of the political debate.
Further questions concern the accounting treatment of the software investments. At the end of 2024, the Banco Central del Paraguay (BCP) amended its chart of accounts and introduced a separate subcategory for particularly large software investments. In Ueno’s financial statements, however, the relevant amounts continue to appear under the general category “Bienes Intangibles – Sistemas.”
According to information cited by lawmaker Mauricio Espínola, the Asociación de Bancos del Paraguay (Asoban) may have contacted the BCP regarding the unusual scale of the reported figures. The existence of such a communication has not been officially confirmed, and Asoban has so far neither confirmed nor denied it.
In response to media inquiries, the BCP stated that the Central Bank and banking supervisory authorities can provide information about the financial system as a whole but do not publicly comment on specific matters involving individual supervised institutions.
Meanwhile, the BNF is conducting a new tender to modernize its IT infrastructure after an earlier procurement process was cancelled. ITTI and Softshop are once again the two bidders in the current procedure, which is presently in the technical evaluation stage.
BNF manager César Vargas rejected suggestions that any bidder was being favored. According to Vargas, the procurement is being conducted in accordance with the tender conditions and the rules governing public contracting. The BNF has described the process as open, public and competitive.