Latest news with #Brasilía
CNA
02-07-2025
- Business
- CNA
Cyberattack on Brazil tech provider affects reserve accounts of some financial institutions
BRASILIA :Brazil's central bank said on Wednesday that technology services provider C&M Software, which serves financial institutions lacking connectivity infrastructure, had reported a cyberattack on its systems. The bank did not provide further details of the attack, but said in a statement that it ordered C&M to shut down financial institutions' access to the infrastructure it operates. C&M Software commercial director Kamal Zogheib said the company was a direct victim of the cyberattack, which involved the fraudulent use of client credentials in an attempt to access its systems and services. C&M said critical systems remain intact and fully operational, adding that all security protocol measures had been implemented. The company is cooperating with the central bank and the Sao Paulo state police in the ongoing investigation, added Zogheib. Brazilian financial institution BMP told Reuters that it and five other institutions experienced unauthorized access to their reserve accounts during the attack, which took place on Monday. BMP said the affected accounts are held directly at the central bank and used exclusively for interbank settlement, with no impact on client accounts or internal balances. BMP added it has taken all necessary operational and legal steps and holds sufficient collateral "to fully cover the impacted amount, without any harm to its operations or business partners." An official familiar with the ongoing investigation, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said C&M provides services to around two dozen small financial institutions, and the amounts involved in the attack do not reach into the billions of reais. Another source said there were no losses suffered by clients. The central bank has used the term "financial institutions lacking their own connectivity infrastructure" to refer to digital payment institutions, which have grown rapidly in Latin America's largest economy, boosted by innovations driving competition in the sector. For instance, the Pix instant payment system, developed and operated by the central bank, was launched in late 2020 and has become the most widely used payment method in the country.
Reuters
13-06-2025
- Politics
- Reuters
Brazil's Lula joins growing chorus of calls to overhaul Haiti security mission
BRASILIA, June 13 (Reuters) - Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Friday became the latest world leader to call for a stronger security force in Haiti, as the underfunded, poorly manned U.N.-backed mission has failed to make headway against the nation's spiraling gang crisis. A record 1.3 million people have been displaced from Haiti in the past six months as armed violence surges, according to U.N. data. Experts say the security mission on the ground there, led by Kenya with support from the U.N., is not enough. Lula, meeting with Caribbean leaders in capital Brasilia, called for the U.N. to finance the mission under its current structure or to convert it into an official peacekeeping mission. "Stabilizing the security situation is essential to take the next step in the political process and hold presidential elections," Lula said. Brazil led a peacekeeping mission to Haiti from 2004 to 2017, though it was marred by a deadly cholera outbreak and allegations of human rights abuses which have left many Haitians wary of an official force. At the moment, the U.N. manages the funds for the Haitian mission, which come from voluntary donations by countries. Many have pledged funds which have yet to arrive. A transition to a formal peacekeeping mission, which would ensure stable funding, would need to be approved by the U.N. Security Council. The U.S. had previously backed the move, though Russia and China, which hold veto powers, were against it. Other world leaders, including France, the Dominican Republic and Colombia, have called for increased support in recent months. France, which colonized Haiti, in April said it was "time to move on" to a peacekeeping mission. Dominican President Luis Abinader, in a letter signed by other former presidents, asked the U.N. earlier this month to consider a hybrid mission to provide logistics and operational support. "Without urgent and effective strengthening of the (mission), there is a real risk that Haiti will be completely dominated by (gangs)... and become a regional hub for drug trafficking, terrorism and other transnational crimes," they wrote. Colombian President Gustavo Petro, following a previous suggestion from U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, last week asked the Organization of American States to deploy troops to Haiti.
Reuters
05-06-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Brazil's poultry exports fell in May, hit by bird flu case
BRASILIA, June 5 (Reuters) - Brazil's poultry exports fell in both value and volume in May from a year earlier, government data showed on Thursday, as trade restrictions following a bird flu case weighed on the sector. Herlon Brandao, director of Statistics and Foreign Trade Studies at the Ministry of Development, Industry, Trade and Services, said at a press conference that poultry exports had been on the rise before the outbreak, the first on a commercial farm in Brazil. In May, poultry exports fell 12.9% to $655 million, while volumes declined 14.4% to about 363,100 metric tons.
Reuters
05-06-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Brazil's May trade surplus lands below expectations as import growth persists
BRASILIA, June 5 (Reuters) - Brazil posted a smaller-than-expected trade surplus in May, government data showed on Thursday, as imports continued to show strong momentum. The monthly surplus fell 12.8% from a year earlier to $7.2 billion, missing the $8.3 billion forecast in a Reuters poll of economists. Amid resilient economic activity in Latin America's largest economy, imports rose 4.7% to $22.9 billion, driven by higher volumes which offset lower prices. Exports, meanwhile, ticked down 0.1% year-over-year to $30.2 billion, according to data from the Ministry of Development, Industry, Trade and Services. A drop in commodity prices weighed on Brazil's main export products, including soybeans, oil and iron ore, undermining gains in shipped volumes. Year-to-date, Brazil's trade surplus has plunged 30.6% from the same period in 2024 to $24.4 billion, reflecting a growing import trend and a slight decline in exports.
The Independent
03-06-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Lula expands Brazil's affirmative action quotas for Indigenous and Black communities
Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on Tuesday signed a new law to expand the country's affirmative action policies, increasing the quota for government jobs reserved for Blacks from 20% to 30% and adding Indigenous people and descendants of Afro- Brazilian enslaved people as beneficiaries. The changes apply to candidates applying for permanent and public employment positions across Brazil's federal administration, agencies, public foundations, public companies and state-run mixed-capital companies. As approved by Congress, the quota will be revised in 2035. 'It is important to allow this country for one day to have a society reflected in its public offices, in the Prosecutors' Office, in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in the Attorney-General's Office, in the Internal Revenue Service, everywhere,' Lula said at the presidential palace in the capital, Brasilia. 'We still have few women, few Black people, almost no Indigenous people." Brazil's first law on racial quotas for government jobs was approved in 2014 by then President Dilma Rousseff, and it extended to public administration positions an affirmative action policy that was in place for access to state-run universities. Brazil's government said in a statement that Blacks and mixed-race people held 25% of top government jobs in 2014, a figure that rose to 36% in 2024. 'Still, Black people are under-represented in the public service and hold lower-wage positions," the government added. Management and Innovation Minister Esther Dweck said the new law was needed due to a low number of new government jobs being opened for candidates in the last decade, when the previous quota was in place. 'We could not reverse the scenario of low representation (for minorities) in the public service," Dweck said in a speech Tuesday. Brazil's government said 55% of the country's population is made up of Black or mixed-race people. It added that more than 70% of Brazilians living below the poverty line are also Black or mixed race, while only 1% of people from those ethnicities are in leadership positions in the private sector. ____
