Paraguayan President Santiago Peña resigned on Thursday as the collapse of Ueno Bank, one of the country's largest lenders, spiraled into a full-blown political crisis — and the Chamber of Deputies voted unanimously to begin impeachment proceedings against him minutes after he stepped down, according to NPR and a wire report carried by ABC News.

Ueno Bank served close to three million customers — more than 60% of Paraguay's adult population, according to Euronews — before the central bank seized control of it this week, citing a severe capital shortfall. Customers were abruptly locked out of their accounts, and eight Ueno executives have since been detained.

Peña's own ties to the bank

The scandal struck close to home for Peña himself. He was a shareholder in Grupo Vázquez, the conglomerate that owned Ueno Bank until March 2025, and lawmakers accused him of conflicts of interest, misuse of pension funds and institutional cover-ups tied to the collapse. Adding to the appearance of a conflict, Peña had appointed Carlos Carvallo — president of Financiera Ueno, the bank's predecessor entity — to run the country's central bank.

The central bank's own governor resigned amid the fallout as well. Vice President Pedro Alliana is set to take over the presidency.

Coverage differs slightly on the exact sequence: Euronews reports the bank was seized Tuesday, while other outlets place the seizure and resignation in the days that followed. Estimates of how many Paraguayans were cut off from their money also range from roughly three million to nearly half the country's population, underscoring how fast-moving and chaotic the crisis has been.

With Alliana now expected to be sworn in, Paraguay faces the dual task of stabilizing a banking system that nearly two-thirds of its adults relied on, while a congressional impeachment process plays out against the president who just left office.