Put: Andre Jerusalem

Law 14,286/2021, which will be known as the “New Foreign Exchange Legal Framework”, was published in the Official Gazette of the Union on December 30, 2021, and brings a series of innovations to the Brazilian foreign exchange market. One of the main innovations of the aforementioned law is the possibility for banks and financial institutions to invest abroad resources raised in Brazil or abroad, in addition to facilitating the use of Brazilian currency in international transactions. 

Among the changes brought about by the new law that have a direct impact on individuals, we highlight the possibility for tourists to carry US$$10,000 or the equivalent in another currency when leaving or entering Brazil (until then only R$$10,000 was permitted), as well as the possibility for individuals to make remittances of small amounts, limited to US$$500. 

Below, we will list in topics the main innovations brought by the new exchange law: 

1. increase in the cash limit that each passenger can carry when leaving or entering Brazil, from R$10,000 to US$10,000; 

1. Possibility for individuals to have US dollar accounts in Brazil;  

1. authorizesdog, in some cases, so that private credit compensation can be carried out between residents and non-residents; 

1. permission for payments in foreign currency of obligations enforceable in Brazil; 

1. permission for individuals to trade foreign currency in cash worth up to US$$ 500 or its equivalent in other currencies, on an occasional and non-professional basis; 

1. possibility for exporting companies to freely use revenues held outside the country; and 

1. facilitation for banks and financial institutions to invest, allocate, finance or lend resources in national or foreign territory. 

The new rule consolidates more than 40 legal provisions issued over the last 100 years and modernizes current legislation based on the “free movement” of capital and the carrying out of operations in the foreign exchange market in a less bureaucratic manner. 

One of the main changes brought about by the new Exchange Framework is that, according to the aforementioned new legislative framework, it was definitively established that the infra-legal regulation will be carried out by the Central Bank of Brazil (BC). In this sense, the BC will have a period of one year to draft and analyze the infra-legal aspects of the new exchange framework that deserve to be regulated. 

Fintechs: 

The new exchange rate framework also definitively included the following: fintechs and other payment institutions as participants in the foreign exchange market. Under current legislation, only banks can carry out foreign exchange transactions, which means that these services are concentrated in a few institutions.