Promoted by the management of Rita Serrano, representative of the institution's employees on Caixa's Board of Directors, the debate was part of the series ‘O X da Questão’, created by the counselor to address issues related to the bank and its workers.
Former presidents of Caixa Danilo de Castro (1992/1994), Jorge Mattoso (2003/2006), Maria Fernanda Coelho (2006/2011), Jorge Hereda (2011/2015), Miriam Belchior (2015/2016) and Gilberto Occhi (2016/2018) talked about the importance of the public bank. Representatives of employees participated in the live in defense of Caixa, such as Anna Claudia de Vasconcellos, by Advocef (Caixa lawyers), and Sérgio Takemoto, president of Fenae.
During the meeting, an open letter signed by the six former presidents in defense of the public institution was released. One of the most long-lived institutions in Brazil, Caixa turned 159 years in January.
No to privatization
The open letter also recalls Caixa's fundamental role in these pandemic times of the new coronavirus. The public bank is responsible for serving millions of Brazilians seeking funds from emergency aid, payment of FGTS and PIS. And breaking paradigms, since, in record time, it became “the largest digital bank in Brazil, with the opening of more than 90 million digital accounts,” highlights the text.
Despite Caixa being among the companies that Brazilians do not want to see privatized, according to opinion polls, a measure of the government of Jair Bolsonaro, PM 995, tries to facilitate the sale of the bank through the creation of subsidiaries.
Full text letter
Open letter from ex-presidents in favor of the public, integral and sustainable Caixa
Caixa is one of the most important institutions in the world, with emphasis on public policy management, and its consolidation has been an innovative and daring process. Caixa was born messing with the Brazilians' dream: the dream of being free, with savings for the purchase of manumission by enslaved people; the parents' desire to guarantee a good future for their children; the dream of home ownership, with credit; the possibility of access to goods and services. In short, the dream of life improvement, social advancement, a better future.
The centennial institution has gone through several governments. In some, it almost succumbed to privatization, as in the 1990s, when practically all state banks and several other public companies were sold. And it has consolidated itself, in the last decades, as the largest manager of social programs in the country.
This year, when a process was underway to privatize its main commercial operations, the covid-19 pandemic emerged and, once again, Caixa was challenged. It served in record time half of the Brazilian population, something around 121 million; that is, 8 out of 10 adults went through the bank to receive emergency benefits, created to minimize the effects of the health and economic crisis, in addition to the PIS and FGTS. It broke paradigms and became the largest digital bank in Brazil, with the opening of more than 90 million digital accounts.
Against PM 995
Even though the institution has strengthened its image and performance - a fact evidenced by several opinion polls that show the population's recognition of the brand and the rejection of privatization - the project to sell its assets has been maintained, the Caixa Seguridade IPO having been announced. The government's intention is to do the same in the areas of cards, lotteries, bonds and real estate and digital banking. And to legalize and streamline this process, it sent the Provisional Measure 995 to Congress.
As ex-presidents of Caixa and aware of the current health, economic and political crisis that Brazil is going through, we understand that the role of the State in this scenario is central in the administration of effective national policies and in the supervision of financial markets and, to fulfill this function , the performance of public banks is fundamental. State investments are factors of economic stabilization, in the level of employment and income, insofar as, by not only obeying the logic of the market, they ensure a minimum expansion of aggregate demand, acting as an instrument of countercyclical policies.
Therefore, a public, healthy and sustainable Caixa must be a premise for any government action that aims to overcome the current moment in the country. Its strengthening will guarantee future generations the security of continuing to count on a public company present throughout the national territory, participating in social policies combating poverty and inequality and capable of contributing to overcoming the serious crisis that we are currently experiencing in Brazil.
With this conviction, we sign this document.
August 25, 2020
Former Caixa presidents sign
Danilo de Castro (1992/1994)
Jorge Mattoso (2003/2006)
Maria Fernanda Coelho (2006/2011)
Jorge Hereda (2011/2015)
Miriam Belchior (2015/2016)
Gilberto Occhi (2016/2018)
Source: GMB
