Financial Law specialist André Jerusalmy, from our firm Mazzucco & Mello Advogados, believes that the greatest effort will be to adapt and maintain clients in accordance with the new regulation.

With the potential to introduce innovations in the financial market through the intensive use of technology, Fintechs and Payment Institutions will have to comply with some of the same rules of the Central Bank of Brazil, which are currently applicable to traditional banks, particularly in preventing money laundering crimes, financial fraud and also prudential rules on capital limits.

According to Resolutions No. 197, 198, 199, 200, 201 and 202 of the BCB, published on March 11, 2022, the new rules will come into force only in January 2023 and will comply with the prudential rules applicable to financial institutions and will be divided into three types of prudential conglomerates:

– Those controlled by financial institutions (type 1);

– Those controlled by a payment institution and not integrated into a financial institution (type 2);

– Those controlled by a payment institution and integrated into a financial institution (type 3).

André Jerusalmy, a Financial Law specialist at our firm Mazzucco & Mello Advogados, says that since new rules are expected to be published to regulate the issue, it is difficult to predict what the impact of such regulation will be on fintechs. However, it is reasonable to expect that stricter rules will impact the structure of less robust fintechs, as they are the ones with fewer resources to comply with such rules.

“Therefore, resources that would previously be directed to investments in Research and Development (R&D) and Marketing processes (essential for innovation) will be directed to other areas. Furthermore, given the increase in the regulatory burden that fintechs will have to comply with, lawyers and accountants will see an increase in demand for services that aim to adapt and maintain clients in accordance with the new regulations.”

By André Jerusalem