The entities state, in the text, that the operation threatens the public character of Caixa, because it would represent an "outsourcing" of the operation, it would threaten the transfer of lottery resources to the federal government, which uses them to finance public policies, and opens gaps for a possible privatization.
"[...] we fear that this is an initial step towards a broader privatization of the institution, which would be disastrous for public interests and national sovereignty," says the letter to which news outlet Broadcast had access. "In view of the above, we appeal to the sense of responsibility and commitment to the public interest of each member of this Council to vote against the proposal to transfer the operations of Lotteries from Caixa to Caixa Loterias."
The president of the National Federation of Caixa Econômica Federal Staff Associations (Fenae), Sergio Takemoto, states that the bank's objectives for making the organizational change are not clear. "What they claim, in our view, is unfounded. They claim that Caixa has no technology, no agility, no product."
Caixa's claim is that by creating a specific company for lotteries, the bank will be able to implement new products more quickly. Today, lotteries are consolidated on the bank's balance sheet. Last year, they raised R$23.4 billion (US$ 4.56bn), an increase of 0.9% compared to 2022. Of this total, R$9.2 billion (US$ 1.8bn) was allocated to federal government social programs.
In addition to fundraising, lotteries are a fundamental part of the bank's service network, as they provide Caixa's banking services. Last December, there were 13,300 lottery outlets spread across the country. The number of physical branches, for comparative purposes, was much smaller, at 3,400.
Fear of privatization
Fenae is one of the entities that signed the letter, together with the National Federation of CEF Managers' Associations (Fenag), National Association of CEF Lawyers (Advocef), National Association of CEF Internal Auditors (Audicaixa), National Association of Engineers, Architects and Network Administrators (Aneac), Social Caixa and the National Association of CEF Pledge Appraisers (Anacef).
At the public bank, criticism is seen as unfounded. A source states that the exploitation of lotteries is a Caixa monopoly defined by law, and that therefore, it is not in the bank's hands to seek an eventual privatization of the service, which has already been considered in other governments.
The project to transfer Caixa's lotteries to a specific company, controlled by the bank, is not new. Loterias CAIXA was created for this purpose in 2015, during the Dilma Rousseff (PT) government, at the same time that Caixa Seguridade was created. The bank's president, Carlos Vieira, who took office last November, has stated that his management will get the change off the ground. In January, he appointed Lucíola Vasconcelos, former vice-president of Agent Operator, as CEO of Loterias CAIXA.
Although lotteries continue to grow, the segment is directly threatened by the advancement of sports betting houses, known as Bets, which have just been regulated by the government. Given this, Caixa considers that it needs to have greater agility in its business.
When contacted, Caixa did not respond.
Source: Estadão Conteúdo
