How Paraguay’s Ueno collapse is only its latest banking crisis

Paraguay’s President Santiago Pena is facing impeachment following the collapse of Ueno Bank, a major digital bank, which has plunged the South American country into its deepest political crisis in more than a decade. Pena announced his resignation on Thursday, but politicians formally filed impeachment charges against the president.

Pena, a former International Monetary Fund (IMF) economist, then requested a 72-hour extension to present his defence at an impeachment hearing, because he had been given less than 12 hours to answer “an accusatory writ and about 300 pages of attachments”, adding: “That is not due process.” However, the Senate convened a rare session on Friday to consider Pena’s political future, opting to move forward with efforts to remove him from office. After being granted a full banking licence in 2023, it rebranded and grew to become a household name in Paraguay within five years.

Customers were incentivised with cashback offers on groceries and it built a network of more than 70 branches.