Former chairman of Brazil's Banco Bradesco dies at 93 (updated)

Banco Bradesco

16/10/2019 15:04

(Adds executives' comments, background)
    By Carolina Mandl
    SAO PAULO, Oct 16 (Reuters) - Lázaro de Mello Brandão, the
former chairman of Banco Bradesco SA  BBDC4.SA  died on
Wednesday at 93, after decades of building the bank into
Brazil's second-largest private-sector lender.
    Brandão had stepped down two years ago after a 75-year
career at the bank. He joined Bradesco in 1942 and worked
alongside founder Amador Aguiar. The bank confirmed in a
statement that he had passed away at a hospital in Sao Paulo. 
    Brandão long kept a tight grip on the lender, serving as
chief executive from 1981 to 1999 and chairman from 1990 to
2017. Even after leaving his job as chairman, Brandão was seen
almost daily at his desk in the bank's head office.
    "He had an intense and vigorous working rhythm, which was
contagious for all of us," Bradesco CEO Octavio de Lazari Junior
said in a statement. "He used to be one of the first ones to
arrive at our headquarters every day."
    Under Brandão's leadership, Bradesco acquired more than 20
financial institutions, including the Brazilian unit of HSBC
Holdings  HSBA.L  in 2015. The bank held 1.41 trillion reais
($338 billion) in assets in June, behind only Itau Unibanco
Holdings  ITUB4.SA  among private-sector banks in Brazil.
    "The Brazilian financial system lost one of its best-known
executives," Bradesco Chairman Luiz Carlos Trabuco Cappi said in
a statement.
    Brandão championed the idea that Bradesco should open its
branches to Brazilians of all classes, even as some rivals
focused on upscale clients and cities to improve profitability.
    "Brandão was a key man not only for building one of the
world's largest banks, but also for helping Brazil's economic
development in the recent decades," Itau CEO Candido Bracher
said in a statement.
    Sergio Rial, CEO of Banco Santander Brasil SA  SANB11.SA ,
said Brandao "led the Brazilian financial industry for a long
time and left a valuable legacy."
    ($1 = 4.1730 reais)

 (Reporting by Carolina Mandl, Tatiana Bautzer and Gabriela
Mello; Editing by Brad Haynes and Bernadette Baum)
 ((Gabriela.Mello@thomsonreuters.com; +55 11 5644 7553; Reuters
Messaging: gabriela.mello.reuters.com@reuters.net))