BRAZIL · JUSTICE
Key Facts
- The court Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court, the nation’s top court, is led by Chief Justice Edson Fachin.
- What happened On Thursday 29 October Fachin returned one fraud probe to its judge and kept the Banco Master case.
- The clock He may hold the Master case for up to 90 days from Saturday 12 September.
- Next step All 11 justices must still approve the decision, and the court has set no date.
- Prediction markets Polymarket, a US real-money prediction market, gives Justice Alexandre de Moraes a 4.4% chance of leaving the court (30 October, 4:55 p.m. ET).
- Power Index Brazil ranks 1st of 14 in The Rio Times Latin America Power Index, with 75.0 points (October 2026 edition).
Brazil’s chief justice, Edson Fachin, has decided to keep a major bank-fraud investigation, the Banco Master case, at his own office for up to 90 days. He announced the decision on Thursday 29 October 2026 and sent a second, separate fraud probe back to its regular judge.
For US readers, the ruling matters because it shows who controls a case that has shaken Brazilian banking and now touches the justices themselves. Our report on the 15 suspects named in the Banco Master fraud explains the money behind it.
What Happened
Fachin returned the inquiry known as Operation Sem Desconto, which examines illegal deductions from retirement and pension payments, to its regular judge, Justice André Mendonça. The court’s own statement says Fachin found no mention of, or concrete evidence about, officials with special court privileges that would justify keeping it at the presidency.
He kept Operation Compliance Zero, the Banco Master investigation, on what the court calls an exceptional and provisional basis. The reason is that police reports in that case cite an authority who falls under the Supreme Court’s jurisdiction.
While the case stays at the presidency, the president handles only urgent decisions, such as the periodic review of people held in pretrial detention. The decision does not judge the merits of either investigation and does not fix permanently which judge owns them.
Why the Court Is Split
Both cases went to the presidency on Saturday 12 September, after police material named people with special court privileges, including members of the court. The material includes messages the Federal Police, Brazil’s national investigative force, pulled from the phone of Daniel Vorcaro, the former banker at the centre of the Master case, that mention Justice Alexandre de Moraes.
Moraes then filed a formal representation alleging irregularities in how the two operations were handled by their regular judges. The Prosecutor-General’s Office, Brazil’s top federal prosecutor, found no elements of abuse of authority, and the presidency noted that finding.
On Tuesday 15 September the full court began judging how to handle the question of Moraes’s messages, but it stopped after Justice Flávio Dino asked for more time to study the file, a step called a pedido de vista. The partial count then stood at four votes to three in favour of keeping the two cases apart.
Finishing that vote is one of three events that can end the presidency’s hold on the Master case early. Our earlier report on the chief justice’s decision to close three fake news probes shows how much of the court’s agenda now runs through his office.
What Can End the 90 Days Early
- The full court finishes judging the question opened in case PET 16662 about Moraes.
- The deadline for Dino’s request for more time runs out.
- The Federal Police hand in the detailed report the court requested on mentions of justices in the Master files.
By our own count, 90 days from 12 September ends on Friday 11 December 2026; the court has not stated that date. The court itself says only “90 days counted from 12 September”.
What It Means for You
If you hold Brazilian stocks, bonds or US-listed Brazilian shares, the court fight matters because the Master case is a major test of Brazilian banking oversight and of who may judge a case that touches the court’s own justices. A slow or contested process can keep political risk high for weeks.
Travelers and US companies in Brazil face no change, because the decision creates no new rules for visitors or businesses. Anyone following Brazil’s institutions can read it as a short truce rather than a settlement.
What Prediction Markets Say
On Friday 30 October at 4:55 p.m. ET, Polymarket gave a 4.4% chance that Moraes leaves the court, with about US$260,000 traded on that question. Kalshi, a US exchange regulated by the CFTC (the Commodity Futures Trading Commission), priced his exit at 6% before 1 January 2027 and 25% before 1 July 2027.
Why we show this: prediction markets turn real-money bets into a live probability that moves within minutes of the news, which is why investors, campaigns and newsrooms in the United States now follow them closely. We show them next to polls and official results, never instead of them.
What Is Not Known
It is not known when the full court will vote on Fachin’s decision, or whether the justices will also split the two operations permanently among different judges. The court says it will weigh that proposal together with the confirmation vote.
It is also unclear what the Federal Police report on the justices will say, or how Dino will vote when he returns the file. No court has found wrongdoing by any justice in this matter.
In Plain English
- Banco Master: a private bank that Brazil’s central bank later liquidated, now the centre of a large fraud inquiry.
- Federal Police: Brazil’s national investigative force.
- Referendum by the plenary: a vote by all 11 justices to confirm a decision made by one.
More: Brazil news in English, every day from The Rio Times, and our Latin America Power Map.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What Did Brazil’s Chief Justice Decide on 29 October?
Edson Fachin returned the illegal-deductions inquiry to Justice André Mendonça and kept the Banco Master investigation at the presidency. The Master hold is provisional and lasts up to 90 days.
Why Is the Banco Master Case Not Going to Another Judge?
Federal Police reports in the case cite an authority who falls under the Supreme Court’s jurisdiction. The court says that is why the presidency keeps it for now.
What Happens Next in the Case?
All 11 justices must confirm the decision, and the court has not set a date. The 90 days can also end early if the Moraes question is settled, Dino’s review period ends or the police report arrives.
Sources: Supreme Federal Court of Brazil (STF), news release on the decision of the court’s president, cases PET 15041, PET 15556 and PET 16662, 29 October 2026; Supreme Federal Court of Brazil, record of the plenary session and request for review of 15 September 2026; Federal Police and Prosecutor-General’s Office filings cited in the decision; Polymarket and Kalshi market data, 30 October 2026.
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error · Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief
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