A financial meltdown in Paraguay has forced the resignation of the country’s rightwing president after the rapid collapse of its banking system, with Ueno Bank at the heart of the crisis. Authorized by the government to expand aggressively in recent years, the digital lender ballooned from obscurity into one of the nation’s dominant financial institutions, reportedly serving a majority of Paraguay’s adult population. The sudden unraveling of the bank’s operations has triggered a political and economic upheaval, leaving authorities scrambling to contain the fallout. Questions now surround how oversight failures allowed the bank’s explosive growth—and whether broader systemic risks remain unaddressed.
Santiago Peña’s rightwing administration had authorised Ueno Bank to drastically expand operations before collapseParaguay’s rightwing president, Santiago Peña, resigned on Thursday after a political and financial crisis collapsed the South American country’s banking system in recent days.At the centre of the crisis is Ueno Bank, which in just a few years under Peña went from an obscure digital bank to one of the country’s largest lenders, claiming to have about 60% of Paraguay’s adult population as customers. Continue reading...
