Cecilia Vidigal, Nov 30, 2011
The Brazilian antitrust system underwent a modernization with the approval, by the Brazilian Congress, of a new bill of law on October 5, 2011 (“New Law”). The New Law was signed by the President of Brazil on November 30 and will come into force on May 29, 2012.
The main amendments to the current antitrust law comprise: (i) elimination of the current overlaps among three different agencies; (ii) adoption of a pre-merger review regime (as opposed to the current post-merge review); (iii) change in the requirements for submission of transactions to merger review; and (iv) amendment to penalties imposed on participants in cartels and other unilateral conducts.
