Brazil bank consumer protection crackdown

In late July 2026 Brazilian authorities intensified actions against major banks over consumer complaints. The Municipal Consumer Protection Agency in Florianópolis ordered the temporary shutdown of a Bradesco branch after hundreds of complaints about unauthorized charges and inadequate information, imposing a daily fine and requiring a compliance plan. At the same time, a court in Tocantins ordered Banco do Brasil to vacate a branch for unpaid rent, underscoring mounting legal pressure on banking institutions.

A few days later the country’s Superior Tribunal de Justiça ruled that unsolicited home visits by bank correspondents offering credit to retirees and pensioners constitute abusive practices. The decision, stemming from a public civil action against Banco Bradesco, halted the practice and affirmed banks’ liability for field agents, though it stopped short of nullifying existing contracts.

On 26 July 2026 a federal judge in Sena Madureira, Acre granted an urgent injunction that bars Banco do Brasil from registering a negative credit entry, protesting the title, or executing guarantees tied to a 73‑year‑old cattle farmer’s rural loan, citing alleged abusive interest rates of 21.35 % per year. The court also ordered the bank to refrain from seizing the farmer’s 310‑head herd while the case proceeds. In Mato Grosso, a separate civil court issued a 30‑day notice to another farmer for a debt claim under the BB Investe Agro program, warning of possible asset seizure. These rulings extend the regulatory scrutiny to rural credit, reinforcing the broader push to protect consumers—including vulnerable agricultural borrowers—from predatory banking practices.