In brief
Late on Thursday, Paraguayan President Santiago Peña resigned following the sudden collapse of the digital lender Ueno, a bank linked to Grupo Vázquez. Within minutes, legislators voted to impeach him, a swift move that underscored the gravity of the banking crisis. The collapse disrupted access to millions of deposits and intensified scrutiny over Peña’s former ties to the bank’s owner.
Late Thursday, Paraguay’s president Santiago Peña resigned after the sudden collapse of Ueno, one of the country’s largest digital banks, and lawmakers voted to impeach him within minutes, a rapid response to the crisis that has rattled the nation’s economy.
Ueno, launched in 2021 and nicknamed with a lower‑case “u”, grew from a niche fintech to a mid‑sized bank with about 3 million customers and roughly $850 million in public funds, including pension institutions. Its rapid expansion drew regulatory scrutiny after it allegedly made excessive loans to companies tied to its controlling shareholder, Grupo Vázquez.
President Peña, elected in 2023, has faced political scrutiny for past business ties to Grupo Vázquez. He said he was a shareholder in the group until March 2025, when he sold his stake, and Ueno has maintained that he never had a direct relationship with the bank as an investor or shareholder.
Opposition lawmakers have accused Peña of conflict of interest, misuse of pension funds, and institutional cover‑up, while prosecutors have investigated him over the bank’s failure. He has not been taken in for questioning, though arrest warrants were issued for eight Ueno executives earlier in the week.
Paraguay’s central bank intervened after determining that Ueno had breached minimum solvency requirements, which triggered a crisis leaving millions temporarily unable to access their accounts. The swift impeachment vote is described as a “political escalation of a regulatory issue” by Peña, who has called for a court‑based resolution.
The impeachment follows an earlier vote that removed Peña from office; the legislature’s swift action reflects the urgency of restoring public confidence in the country’s leadership amid the banking collapse.
