By: André Jerusalem 

The National Monetary Council (CMN) has made a decision that allows independent investment agents (AAI) to organize themselves as business corporations – without the restriction of being a group of professionals – in response to one of the main demands of the sector, which was the possibility of attracting investments through the sale of equity interests. This decision, which still needs to be regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (CVM), addresses succession issues and opens up the possibility for AAI offices to attract capitalist partners and monetize their businesses, regardless of whether they create brokerage firms or securities dealers.

Some offices have reached billions in custody for the institutions with which they have ties and, after a certain level of revenue, they have become brokers. Furthermore, those with volumes between R$8 billion and R$10 billion now have revenues compatible with the real profit tax model and are no longer included in the presumed profit model.

In the proposed draft, the CVM made the reservation that purely capitalist partners could not engage in conflicting activities. The platforms themselves do not know whether this would prevent them from becoming partners directly in the advisory services, and this was one of the main reasons why the creation of brokerage firms had been one of the solutions to the restriction.

This review comes at a time when the industry is very different from when the restrictions were imposed by the CVM in 2011, under the justification of protecting investors, preventing the exercise of the activity by non-accredited parties and avoiding fraud and market manipulation. The main argument is that, although the segment is much larger today, there is much more technology available to cross-reference data via BSM, the securities transaction supervision arm of B3.

The expectation within the Brazilian Association of Independent Investment Agents (ABAAI) is that the text will be approved by the plenary of the Chamber and then validated by the Senate to go to the President for sanction. The end of the exclusivity of the bond for the offering of securities, which was included in the opinion by rapporteur Neucimar Fraga (PSD-ES), was removed at the request of the CVM, which will also regulate the topic, as previously planned. The project must be voted on by March 10 to avoid expiring.