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Research Article Volume 14 Issue 1
Theory of proceduralized illegality: narrative governance and accountability deferral in Brazilian financial accountability regimes (Banco Master, 2025–2026)
Vinícius Rosoha Pereira
Received: February 02, 2026 | Published: March 6, 2026
Citation: Pereira VR. Theory of proceduralized illegality: narrative governance and accountability deferral in Brazilian financial accountability regimes (Banco Master, 2025–2026). Forensic Res Criminol Int J. 2026;14(1):48-58. DOI: 10.15406/frcij.2026.14.00466
Abstract
This article develops a closed-corpus, discourse-oriented institutional analysis of publicly accessible institutional documents, official communications, judicial acts, and professionally edited journalistic reporting concerning the Banco Master case (extrajudicial liquidation in November 2025) and comparable large-scale financial scandals in Brazil (e.g., Americanas). The empirical basis was pre-collected prior to writing and is mobilized as analytical input rather than as investigative evidence. The theoretical aim is theory-building in law and institutional analysis: systemic corruption, financial crime, and institutional illegality are conceptualized not as episodic deviations but as functional components of contemporary governance arrangements. Within this framework, crises are approached as moments in which institutional narratives, procedural rationalities, and accountability regimes are publicly negotiated and stabilized. Results are organized around three recurring discursive patterns identified in the pre-collected corpus: (1) moral indignation coupled with the individualization of responsibility; (2) strategic silence regarding prior institutional and political connections; and (3) displacement of responsibility toward procedural and institutional constraints. The discussion articulates the article’s original contribution by linking these patterns to the structural limits of legal accountability and to the production of narrative governance in contexts marked by institutional inertia.
Keywords: discourse analysis, institutional legality, financial crises, accountability, procedural governance, narrative governance
©2026 Pereira. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and build upon your work non-commercially.