Banif Brasil will be sold by end of March

The bank Banif Brasil is to be sold off at the end of this month for the symbolic price of 1 Brazilian real (18 cents) to Banco Master.

The buyer has affirmed that it is interested in beginning operations in Portugal. The bank had been part of the Portuguese bank Banif (part of the Banif Financial Group), and had a presence in Europe, South America, the US, Africa and Asia.
In 2015, Banif in Portugal was bailed out by the Portuguese State and sold to the Santander Group. The bank was founded by Madeiran financier and entrepreneur Horácio Roque, but was wound up on December 20, 2015, with the Resolution Fund lending it €489 million to absorb losses and provide guarantees for bonds issued by Oitante, a company set up to offload toxic but salvageable assets.
Oitante is a private entity whose establishment was decided by the Financial Supervisory Authority – the Bank of Portugal. It currently manages €194 million of Non-Performing Loans and €145 million of accumulated results.
The bank in Brazil has been under a liquidation commission which had unsuccessfully tried to sell off the bank last year after a lawyer had presented a third investor for the deal that had been on the table.