Competition Compliance in Brazil: Retrospective and Perspective

CADE has been one of the lead authorities in Brazil to disseminate a compliance culture through its rules, guidance, and case law, which evolved considerably since 2004 and in particular over the past five years. Its enforcement policies and procedures made public in guidelines and proposed regulations confirm that the agency is aware that ensuring legal certainly and transparency is a work in progress. Its approach to competition compliance over the years does as well. This article discusses CADE’s efforts to promote competition compliance programs and considers the impact of its 2016 Guidelines to business activities, as well as points to potential areas of improvement.

By Mariana Tavares de Araujo & Gabriela Costa Carvalho Forsman^[1]

I. INTRODUCTION

Most compliance-related efforts by Brazilian authorities in the spotlight today are related to anticorruption enforcement, as a result of the legal framework in place since 2014, which introduced investigative tools that enforce corruption and promote the adoption of corporate compliance programs, and of the overall attention received by the Car Wash Investigation, in Brazil and abroad. Interestingly though, anticorruption compliance was the not the first area – and most certainly is not the only one – where compliance initiatives have prospered in Brazil.

Over twenty years ago, the National Monetary Council issued Resolution No. 2,554/1998 promoting the adoption of compliance programs to prevent