Paraguay has named new leaders for its central bank after a digital lender’s failure helped bring down a president. Monday’s Senate vote gives the institution a new chief and board member, yet money is still being returned in stages and scrutiny of the banking regulator is far from finished.

The Senate confirms a new leadership team

Paraguay's Senate gave its constitutional consent on Monday, November 9, for economist Jorge Luis Schreiner Marengo to become president of the Banco Central del Paraguay. President Pedro Alliana had proposed his name earlier that day, making the vote a swift response to a vacancy at the country's most closely watched financial institution. The Senate said it also approved Fernando Javier Rivarola Angulo as a full member of the central bank's board. Its announcement described both decisions as confirmations requiring communication to the executive, not as evidence that the banking crisis had ended.

The vote followed days of extraordinary turmoil. Regulators placed digital lender ueno into statutory resolution after uncovering a severe capital shortfall; central bank chief Carlos Carvallo left office; Congress removed President Santiago Peña in an impeachment trial on Friday; and former vice-president Alliana took office. Prosecutors subsequently charged Peña and Carvallo over alleged connections to the lender, and both were placed in pretrial detention. Those are allegations under judicial examination, not findings of guilt. Monday's Senate action was a new institutional appointment, distinct from the proceedings that brought Alliana to power.

Sources: Senado otorgó acuerdo constitucional para autoridades del BCP · Paraguay's president names Schreiner to head central bank · Senado presta acuerdo para Schreiner y Rivarola en el BCP y prometen fortalecer los controles · Banco Central inicia el procedimiento de resolución de ueno bank · How a digital bank's collapse toppled Paraguay's president

Why Schreiner and Rivarola were chosen

Schreiner brings previous experience inside the monetary authority and the securities regulator. Reuters reported that he served on the central bank's board for two years until 1999 and headed Paraguay's securities commission for about a decade, until 2013. Local reporting dates those positions to 1997–1999 and 2003–2013. This record gives the incoming chief familiarity with regulation, but the appointment alone says little about how quickly depositors will be repaid or which supervisory decisions will be revisited. Those questions depend on actions taken after he assumes responsibility.

Rivarola's arrival is particularly significant because his earlier warnings have become part of the public debate. Reuters and ABC Color reported that, while working in banking supervision, he raised concerns about ueno in a July report that later reached local media. The Senate said Rivarola pledged to seek a prompt solution for affected savers and an orderly way through the lender's failure. According to ABC Color, senators approved Schreiner by 31 votes to one, with one abstention, while all 33 senators present backed Rivarola. Neither vote independently establishes what past supervisors knew or when they acted.

Sources: Senado otorgó acuerdo constitucional para autoridades del BCP · Paraguay's president names Schreiner to head central bank · Senado presta acuerdo para Schreiner y Rivarola en el BCP y prometen fortalecer los controles · Alliana propone a Jorge Schreiner para presidir el Banco Central del Paraguay · Alliana pide acuerdo para Fernando Rivarola, el técnico que alertó sobre Ueno Bank

Repayments have begun, but the totals need context

The central bank has already started returning money through the deposit guarantee mechanism. At a November 7 briefing, interim chief Pedro Acosta reported transfers to roughly 1.2 million affected depositors, according to ABC Color and other Paraguayan outlets. Local coverage put disbursements at approximately 995 billion guaraníes, with some accounts rounding the figure to 996 billion. Reuters separately reported about $160 million paid to nearly 1.2 million savers. These are descriptions of payments made, not a statement that every account or every claim has been settled. Dollar conversions in coverage vary and should not be mistaken for additional payments.

The statutory guarantee is more specific than a promise to replace every lost balance. In its November 3 resolution announcement, the central bank said coverage extends to 75 monthly minimum wages per depositor per institution, then equivalent to 228.3 million guaraníes. Its first payment group, announced November 5, covered eligible customers with deposits up to 10 million guaraníes, no debts to ueno and an account at another local financial institution. The bank says it will pursue protections for balances above the guarantee, but that commitment is not an unconditional recovery guarantee.

Sources: Banco Central inicia el procedimiento de resolución de ueno bank · Comunicado sobre inicio de pagos de garantía a los depositantes de ueno bank SA · Ueno Bank: casi 1.200.000 ahorristas ya recibieron su dinero, dice el BCP · How a digital bank's collapse toppled Paraguay's president

New payout groups expose the remaining obstacles

By Monday, the payout process was moving beyond straightforward small balances. Última Hora reported that the central bank was including customers with deposits above 121.76 million guaraníes in a new advance-payment group, while also addressing accounts with debts after deducting overdue amounts. Earlier eligible groups continued receiving transfers. The authority said some customers with blocked accounts, savings certificates or other special arrangements would be handled later. Such distinctions matter because the headline number of people paid cannot reveal how much money remains inaccessible to those still waiting.

The central bank also created a way for customers to identify the receiving bank assigned to them. Its November 5 notice described an online lookup intended to spare savers from relying on an email notification alone. Customers still need clear records, verified transfer destinations and explanations when advances differ from expected balances. A resolution process can move deposits to other financial institutions and recover assets over time; it should not be confused with a declaration that all savings have permanently disappeared. Nor can a change of central bank leadership instantly resolve disputed balances.

Sources: Banco Central inicia el procedimiento de resolución de ueno bank · BCP prosigue con pagos a depositantes de ueno bank con pagos de hasta G.121,7 millones · Comunicado sobre el mecanismo de consulta para los pagos a los ahorristas de ueno bank S.A.

Teachers demand protection for pension money

The social pressure surrounding the bank has not subsided. Public schoolteachers held a strike and demonstrations on Monday, calling for safeguards for public retirement money exposed to ueno, according to the Associated Press and Paraguay's Última Hora. Teachers' groups gathered in central Asunción and met Alliana as they pressed for answers about pension resources and other outstanding demands. AP reported that the dispute involved tens of millions of dollars in education-related pension funds. Those figures describe funds at risk or subject to demands for protection, not an independently confirmed final loss.

The teachers' action shows why the central bank's job extends beyond individual digital-account holders. Public agencies and pension-related institutions placed money with ueno, raising questions about institutional controls as well as the speed of retail repayment. The government's response needs to distinguish deposits already reimbursed, legally insured balances still in process and larger public claims whose recovery remains uncertain. Announcing a new central bank president does not by itself answer whether pension payments will remain on schedule or how any exposure will ultimately be covered. Those are outcomes for regulators and public authorities to demonstrate.

Sources: Teachers strike in Paraguay to demand pension fund protections following bank's collapse · Docentes suspenden clases y se reúnen con Alliana para tratar crisis financiera y sus reivindicaciones · How a digital bank's collapse toppled Paraguay's president

The next test is evidence of restored oversight

Alliana described his choice on X as a step toward, in Reuters' translation, 'strengthening the central bank's institutional framework and restoring the confidence of the Paraguayan people.' That is the president's stated objective, not an achieved result. The Senate's own account says lawmakers pressed the nominees to scrutinize supervision procedures and the handling of technical warnings. Schreiner told senators he would acknowledge gaps in his knowledge and investigate them, while Rivarola committed to finding a solution for depositors. The public can assess those pledges only against subsequent decisions, transparent information and the pace of payments.

For now, the immediate facts are narrower than the political promises. The leadership nominations cleared the Senate; ueno remains subject to a legal resolution process; many affected customers have received funds; others have not. The central bank maintains that the failure is specific to ueno rather than proof of a system-wide breakdown, but confidence will depend on more than that reassurance. The next measurable developments are new payment updates, the handling of larger or complex claims, and clarity on the regulatory warnings that preceded the collapse. Monday's appointment establishes who must help answer those questions, not their answers.

Sources: Senado otorgó acuerdo constitucional para autoridades del BCP · Paraguay's president names Schreiner to head central bank · Banco Central inicia el procedimiento de resolución de ueno bank · BCP prosigue con pagos a depositantes de ueno bank con pagos de hasta G.121,7 millones