Eduardo Cunha, a speaker of Brazil's lower house, is facing ethics hearings over allegedly secret Swiss bank accounts.

The Brazilian Congressional ethics committee has appointed a first-time legislator, Fausto Pinato, to lead the investigation into Cunha, who is already being investigated for allegedly receiving a $5 million payment in the corruption scandal involving Petrobras.

Pinato, of the Brazilian Republican party, was given until 24 November to recommend whether the committee should investigate Cunha for lying about the accounts, which if true could cost him his seat.

Swiss prosecutors found four accounts in Cunha's and his wife’s name at Julius Baer, the Zurich-headquartered private bank, after the speaker told a previous congressional commission in March that he had no bank accounts abroad.

The appointment of Pinato is a controversial one as the PRB is a party of Evangelical politicians, many of whom have close ties to Cunha, who himself is an Evangelical Christian.

According to the Estado de São Paulo newspaper, one-third of the 21-strong ethics committee are being investigated on suspicion of crimes that range from electoral and tax fraud to money laundering.