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Doing Business in Brazil - Looseleaf
Doing Business in Brazil - Electronic
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A. INTRODUCTION
28.101 Electronic payment mechanisms (e-payments) are gaining ground as
an important tool for greater economic efficiency and financial inclusion.
But, until recently, Brazil had no specific regulation for e-payment
activities in Brazil, which caused great legal uncertainty for investments in
this specific segment and translated into regulatory asymmetries, despite
the efforts of self-regulation. Only payment instruments issued by financial
institutions were subject to oversight by the Central Bank of Brazil
(BACEN), and no specific rules were in place even for them.
28.102 In view of this scenario, the Brazilian government has worked over
the last years on a legal and regulatory framework for the e-payment
industry; these efforts culminated in Provisional Measure 615 of May 17,
2013, which was eventually signed into Law 12,865 of October 9, 2013,
followed by the recent rules issued by the National Monetary Council
(CMN) and by BACEN.
B. KEY ASPECTS OF LAW 12,865 OF 2013
28.103 Law 12,865 of 2013 lays down the general rules and principles for
“payment arrangements” and “payment agents”, which will now join the
Brazilian Payments System (SPB). Moreover, the new law confers on CMN
and on BACEN the requisite powers to regulate them.
Pinheiro Neto - Advogados, established in 1942, is Brazil's leading commercial law firm with offices in Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Brasilia. The founding Editor of this publication, the late J.M. Pinheiro Neto, was the Legal Advisor to the British Chamber of Commerce in Brazil.