Investment firm linked to troubled bank, suspended

THE LICENSE of an investment firm linked to Banco Universal whose name has repeatedly appeared in series of anti corruption investigations has been suspended by The Superintendency of Securities.

In a resolution, the superintendency said that it inspected the firm Clever Financial services on June 9 and discovered that it only has three bank accounts, all in Banco Universal owned by the Virzi family.
The institution explained that these accounts were used for administrative funds, third-party clients and fixed-term investments. The last account contained the liquid assets to meet the minimum required capital mandated by the superintendency.
Because Banco Universal is currently under the administration of the Superintendency of Banks, those funds are not available.
The superintendency also noted that keeping the administrative and operational accounts in the same institute bank “presenting an inherent risk.”
The suspension will remain in effect until the firm rectifies these issues.