Otto Lobo and Vorcaro: Seized Messages Shadow Brazil’s Securities Regulator
Brazil · Banking scandal
Key Facts
- —What happened O Globo reported on 21 September 2026 that banker Daniel Vorcaro promised in July 2025 to back Otto Lobo as CVM chief.
- —Who Lobo is President of the CVM, Brazil’s securities regulator, confirmed by the Senate on 20 May 2026 after a year as interim chief.
- —His answer In a written statement, Lobo said he never had dealings with Vorcaro and never sought his support.
- —Why it matters Lobo heads the body that polices listed firms, and his July 2025 casting vote on Ambipar is under audit-court review.
- —The catch No charges against Lobo have been reported, and no authority has published a finding that the Ambipar vote favoured Vorcaro.
- —What comes next Transparency International Brazil wants individual accountability for decisions that let the alleged Banco Master fraud grow.
The Otto Lobo and Vorcaro messages, found by Brazil’s Federal Police, show the owner of the collapsed Banco Master promising to help keep the head of the securities regulator in his post. The regulator’s chief denies any relationship.
Messages linking Otto Lobo and Vorcaro have put the head of Brazil’s securities regulator on the defensive. In them, detained banker Daniel Vorcaro promises to help keep Lobo in charge of the CVM.
The CVM, or Comissão de Valores Mobiliários, polices listed companies and investment funds, much like the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Lobo has run it since mid-2025 and denies ever seeking Vorcaro’s support.
The newspaper O Globo first reported the messages, found by the Federal Police, on Monday 21 September 2026. CNN Brasil said it had confirmed their content, and other outlets followed the same day.
What the messages say
The exchange took place on 19 July 2025, according to Times Brasil, the local CNBC affiliate. It is between Vorcaro and Ciro Soares, a lawyer whom Transparency International Brazil describes as a lobbyist for Banco Master.
Soares told Vorcaro that Lobo wanted help reaching Otto Alencar, a PSD senator from Bahia. His predecessor, João Pedro Nascimento, had resigned the day before, leaving Lobo as interim CVM president.
Vorcaro’s reply, as quoted by CNN Brasil, was “Ótimo ele. Tem que colocar na presidência.”
In English: “He’s great. He has to be put in the presidency.”
Soares then wrote that he would take Lobo to “Jaques” and work to keep him in the job. Revista Oeste, a conservative magazine, identified that person as Jaques Wagner, a Workers’ Party senator from Bahia.
Vorcaro answered with a promise to mobilise his network: “Vamos fazer acontecer. Vou falar com a minha turma.”
That translates as “Let’s make it happen. I’ll talk to my people.”
In the same exchange, Soares relayed that Lobo called Vorcaro “leãozinho da montanha”, or little mountain lion. That detail comes from Soares, not from any message written by Lobo himself.
Lobo and the senators deny it
In a written statement quoted by CNN Brasil, Lobo said he “nunca teve relações ou procurou apoio de Daniel Vorcaro”. That means he never had dealings with Vorcaro or sought his support.
He added that he has no knowledge of, or influence over, private conversations between third parties. His statement also said no case he voted on contains any allegation that Banco Master benefited.
Alencar denied acting for Lobo, according to O Globo, and told Revista Oeste he had never met him. Wagner’s office said no meeting took place and that he never acted for Banco Master.
Soares did not respond to CNN Brasil. Revista Oeste reported that he denied knowing of any negotiation between Alencar and Vorcaro over Lobo’s post.
The Senate confirmed Lobo as president by 31 votes to 13 on Wednesday 20 May 2026. His term runs to July 2027.
No charges against Lobo have been reported.
The vote critics point to
Revista Fórum, a left-leaning magazine, has tied the Otto Lobo and Vorcaro messages to a ruling ten days later.
On 29 July 2025, the CVM board ruled that Ambipar’s controller owed minority shareholders no buyout offer. Ambipar is an environmental services group.
Nascimento and director Marina Copola had voted for an offer before he left; Lobo and director João Accioly voted against. Lobo, as interim president, broke the tie with a casting vote, according to Seu Dinheiro and Revista Fórum.
CVM technical staff had argued that coordinated purchases by Ambipar’s controller, Tércio Borlenghi Junior, and Master-linked funds inflated the share price. Staff said the shares served as collateral linked to an auction of EMAE, São Paulo’s hydropower company, Seu Dinheiro reported.
Phoenix, a fund linked to businessman Nelson Tanure, won that privatisation auction in April 2024, according to Revista Fórum. Sabesp, the São Paulo water utility, bought EMAE in October 2025, the magazine added.
The CVM’s chief attorney, Luciana Alves, objected at the time that Lobo was in effect voting twice. Technical staff at the TCU, the federal audit court, later saw “indícios de irregularidades”, or signs of irregularities, in the vote.
The court’s ministers had not ruled on the case by March 2026, Gazeta do Povo reported. Lobo defended the vote, saying the board later upheld it unanimously and that a casting vote is a president’s right.
Where the Fórum claim stands
On Tuesday 22 September 2026, Revista Fórum argued that Lobo’s vote benefited funds tied to Vorcaro’s business network. It named funds administered by the firm Trustee DTVM and linked them to Tanure and to Master.
Fórum said the CVM, Lobo, Vorcaro, Banco Master, Tanure, Borlenghi and Ambipar had not answered its questions. No authority has published a finding that backs the magazine’s analysis.
Pressure on the regulator
The episode lands as the CVM faces wider scrutiny over Banco Master, which the central bank shut down on 18 November 2025. Vorcaro is in pre-trial detention, and his lawyers are seeking his release.
On 21 September 2026, Transparency International Brazil, an anti-corruption group, called for decision-makers in the Master case to be investigated. It also welcomed an order by Supreme Court Justice Flávio Dino on the CVM’s rules.
Dino gave the federal government 90 days, with the Finance Ministry in charge, to review the CVM’s governance and supervision. The anti-corruption group said fixing rules is not enough without holding individual decision-makers to account.
Lobo, a corporate lawyer with a doctorate from the University of São Paulo, joined the CVM board in January 2022. Instituto Empresa, a minority shareholder group, warned at his confirmation that politically driven appointments could weaken perceived regulatory independence, Money Times reported.
For foreign investors, the question is whether Brazil’s securities regulator can show it decides cases on their merits. For now, Lobo denies ever seeking Vorcaro’s support, and no charges against him have been reported.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Otto Lobo?
Otto Lobo is the president of the CVM, Brazil’s securities regulator. He joined its board as a director in January 2022 and became interim president in July 2025, after João Pedro Nascimento resigned. The Senate confirmed him as president on 20 May 2026 by 31 votes to 13, for a term running to July 2027.
What do the Otto Lobo and Vorcaro messages show?
According to O Globo and CNN Brasil, the Federal Police found a July 2025 exchange between banker Daniel Vorcaro and lawyer Ciro Soares. Soares said Lobo wanted help reaching a senator, and Vorcaro replied that Lobo should be made president. The messages are between Vorcaro and Soares, not written by Lobo.
What has Lobo said?
In a written statement quoted by CNN Brasil, Lobo said he never had dealings with Vorcaro and never sought his support. He said he has no knowledge of, or influence over, private conversations between third parties. No charges against him have been reported.
What was the Ambipar vote?
On 29 July 2025 the CVM board ruled that Ambipar’s controller did not have to make a mandatory buyout offer to minority shareholders. The board split evenly and Lobo, as interim president, broke the tie with a casting vote. Technical staff at the federal audit court later saw signs of irregularities in that procedure.
Sources: CNN Brasil on the messages and Lobo’s statement, Times Brasil CNBC on the date of the exchange, Revista Oeste on the denials, Folha de Pernambuco on O Globo’s report, Transparency International Brazil statement, Senate news agency on Lobo’s confirmation, Seu Dinheiro on the Ambipar ruling, Gazeta do Povo on the audit court review, Revista Fórum on the EMAE link, Money Times on Lobo’s record
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