By: Rafael Mello, Vitor Ferrari and Ivan Kubala

In October 2022, the National System for Asset Investigation and Recovery (“SNIPER”) came into operation and can now be used in a wide range of legal proceedings, particularly those aimed at asset recovery.

SNIPER was developed by the National Council of Justice (“CNJ”) and aims to optimize, expedite and centralize the search for debtors’ assets, committing not only to locate assets more quickly, but also to identify, through cross-referencing data from several state agency databases, the asset, corporate and financial ties between individuals and legal entities. In other words, SNIPER was created with the objective of centralizing the search for assets and information about third parties who may have deliberately received assets to defraud creditors or foreclose.

In general terms, SNIPER aims to access the databases of the Superior Electoral Court (“TSE”), the National Aviation Agency (“ANAC”), the Federal Revenue Service, the Office of the Comptroller General (“CGU”), the Maritime Court related to the Brazilian Navy, the Infojud and Sisbajud systems (both in the implementation phase), and the National Registry of Legal Entities (“CNPJ”). This initial list of databases is sure to grow in the coming months and years.

As is known, it is common for processes to become paralyzed and stuck in the execution phase, precisely because some debtors use artificial means to transfer or hide their assets.

There are already some systems that help in the search for assets and even identify fraudulent transactions, but most of the time they are not very efficient and creditors face difficulties in enforcing their rights.

SNIPER, on the other hand, promises to revolutionize the area of credit recovery, revealing a series of important information, which previously required research and due diligence in various systems and agencies, in just a few seconds and in an educational way (in graphs, for example), facilitating the identification of solutions for satisfying credits.

As the CNJ reports, the aforementioned system uses innovation and technology to make judicial processes more efficient, transparent and faster, guaranteeing people true access to justice.

However, it is important to mention that the information and data revealed by SNIPER require diligent and specialized action from lawyers, either due to the need to convince judges to use the system, since it is the judge's responsibility to operate SNIPER through the Judiciary's Digital Platform (“PDPJ”), or due to the lawyer's role in interpreting and efficiently using the data obtained for the benefit of the client.

Mazzucco&Mello has professionals with years of experience in asset investigation and who are at the forefront of innovations and private and public credit recovery tools, such as SNIPER.