President Resigns After $850 Million Bank Failure
Santiago Peña stepped down after Ueno’s collapse left nearly half of Paraguay’s population unable to access their accounts.
By James Anderson ·
Paraguay’s president Santiago Peña resigned on Thursday.
He stepped down after the collapse of Ueno, a digital lender where he had former business ties.
In a recorded video, Peña said he resigned to ensure social peace and preserve democratic institutions.
The central bank intervened in Ueno after finding it breached minimum solvency requirements.
This action left about three million customers without access to their accounts.
Paraguay has a population of 6.5 million people.
The crisis began with Ueno, which grew from a niche fintech company into a mid-tier bank.
The institution administered close to $850 million in public funds.
Peña was a shareholder of Grupo Vázquez, the group that owned Ueno until March 2025.
He has described the controversy as a political escalation of a technical regulatory issue.
Opposition lawmakers called an extraordinary session for Thursday.
They moved to file an impeachment motion in Congress as protesters demanded Peña’s exit. Peña lost the backing of members in his own conservative party before the debate began. The lower house approved the impeachment motion against him. It rejected a motion against Vice President Pedro Alliana. The measure moved to the Senate for a vote later Thursday. Peña’s resignation also requires Senate ratification. An impeachment trial could delay Alliana’s swearing in as the new president. Lawmakers accused Peña of conflicts of interest and misuse of pension funds. They also cited institutional cover-ups linked to the bank failure. The collapse of Ueno has damaged Paraguay’s reputation as a stable destination for foreign investment. Sovereign bond prices fell after the resignation news broke. JP Morgan noted the situation had rapidly acquired a political dimension. Prosecutors issued arrest warrants for eight Ueno executives on Tuesday. They turned themselves in, and courts ordered their assets frozen. Some were later placed under house arrest. The central bank chief also resigned in the fallout. Ueno has not made a public statement on the issue.
