Best interest rates in banks in Brazil

Hello tem774 and welcome to Expat.com

Hope that some members will be able to help you soon.

Regards
Kenjee
Expat.com Team

Hello I am looking to make contact with knowledgeable people who understand finance,  insurance and investments particularly private pensions. ....PS what are the best banks, strongest in Brazil with good future potential and best CDB options. ...my visa is permanent and I will be living there full time. ...thanks for any helpful advice. ....Thomas

In terms of net assets the top banks in Brazil are:

Itáu with R$34.9 billion, Bradesco with R$ 32,6 billion, and Banco do Brasil with R$30.5 billion. The state-owned bank Caixa Econômica Federal has only R$15,3 billion.

Account interest rates for savings accounts in almost all of the Brazilian banks are the same. As far as long-term investment vehicles, I don't know anything about them here in Brazil and which even exist.

Insurance and private pensions are usually done by the major banks too. Bradesco Seguros is one of the leaders in the field.

Cheers,
William James Woodward, Expat-blog Experts Team

Thanks William James. ...I appreciate your information and prompt reply. ...I had a successful pension and investment business in the USA,  e e used best rated mutual funds and very sound insurance companies like Fidelity and Prudential for example. ..I was wondering if it would be possible to start a first class agency in Brazil to help the people achieve their goals for security and retirement. ...or does Brazil monopolies their insurance and investment companies,  Thanks ...
Thomas Murray

You can be sure that private pensions are shrouded in many levels of bureaucracy in order to protect the monopoly that major banks and insurance companies have long enjoyed in this field. Even if it weren't there are a number of different business endeavours that foreigners are prohibited from operating, I'm sure that anything at all remotely connected with the financial sector is strictly off limits.

For example, Wooribank is one of the oldest and most respected banks in South Korea with a history dating back over 116 years. I taught Mr. Mun Kyun Ro who is the president of Wooribank Brazil. It took mountains of paperwork and almost 3 years negotiating with Brazil's Central Bank just to get permission to start operations in this country. I'm not even sure if they are permitted to operate as a "commercial" bank or just as an investment bank. That's just how tough the bureaucracy is here.

Cheers,
wjw

Thank you,  I thought so, I feel like they want to control the money and insurance market here. ...I see that the money flow on consumer items also has many restrictions, especially imports are loaded with outrageous fees taxes etc. ....How is the Internet holding up? I see why Brazilians shop so frantically while in the states etc. ...I guess the monopoly on money movement is a huge interest in their government. ....thanks again

Yes, this is exactly why Brazilian banks won't deal with foreign checks. The Central Bank makes it a very cumbersome process with mountains of paperwork to transfer money in or cash checks from abroad. Thus the work falls to Currency Exchanges that can be more tightly controlled and monitored for tax compliance. The IOF (Imposto sobre operações financeiras) gets charged on every last penny coming into this ccuntry from abroad. Capital Controls are alive and well in Brazil. This is why there is no existing Trade Agreement  with the USA, and probably never will be, because they won't sign a deal with any nation that has Capital Controls and Brazil won't budge one inch on this subject.