BRAZIL Law and Practice Contributed by: Fabio Cendão, Heitor Maia, Eduardo Faria and Gabriel Lobato, Faria, Cendão & Maia Advogados (FCM Law)
tive financial institutions may impose greater scrutiny for opening or maintaining accounts, especially due to KYC requirements, transaction monitoring, AML/ CFT, traceability of funds and risk assessment of the business model. As the regime applicable to VASPs is consolidated, companies with robust controls and greater regulatory transparency are likely to have bet- ter conditions for access to banking and payment ser- vices. 1.2.3 ESG/Sustainable Finance To date, Brazil has no specific ESG or sustainable finance requirements directly applicable to digital assets. The issue has not yet occupied a central posi- tion in the sector’s regulatory agenda, especially when compared with matters such as VASP licensing, AML/ CFT, asset segregation and operational governance. Even so, discussions on energy and environmental impact are beginning to emerge in the national debate, particularly in relation to cryptocurrency mining and the intensive use of computing infrastructure. For the time being, however, these discussions have not resulted in specific disclosure, reporting or sustain- able classification obligations for digital assets. 1.2.4 Tax Brazil already has specific tax rules for transactions involving crypto-assets, particularly in relation to the provision of information to the Brazilian Federal Rev- enue Service. RFB Normative Instructions No 1,888 and 1,889/2019 established reporting obligations applicable to exchanges, virtual asset service pro- viders and individuals carrying out transactions with crypto-assets. This regime is expected to be replaced by RFB Nor- mative Instruction No 2,291/2025 (DeCripto), a new crypto-asset declaration aligned with the OECD CARF standard, with effectiveness scheduled for July 2026. The new obligation is expected to expand the scope of reporting, including cross-border transactions, transactions on DeFi platforms and certain structures involving fractionalised NFTs. Although DeCripto expands reporting and supervisory capacity, certain material tax uncertainties remain. The most sensitive points include the treatment of income
from staking, airdrops, swaps between crypto-assets, transactions in decentralised protocols and models with no identifiable intermediary. 1.2.5 Insolvency Brazil has not yet adopted a specific resolution or insolvency regime for blockchain-based businesses or digital asset firms. To date, relevant market collaps- es have been dealt with through existing instruments, such as civil litigation, asset-freezing measures, crimi- nal investigations, administrative enforcement pro- ceedings and, where applicable, the general bank- ruptcy regime. Accordingly, digital asset firms remain subject to the general rules on judicial reorganisation, extrajudicial reorganisation and bankruptcy. Even so, the new VASP regulatory framework tends to make issues such as segregation of client assets, governance, internal controls, operational continuity and procedures for returning or transferring virtual assets and financial resources increasingly relevant in distress scenarios. 1.2.6 Industry and Trade Bodies In the crypto-asset sector, the main representative body is ABCripto, which works to support the institu- tional development of the Brazilian crypto ecosystem and dialogue with regulators. Its role has been particu- larly relevant in discussions and public consultations held by the Central Bank on the licensing, operation and supervision of virtual asset service providers. ABToken more specifically represents the asset tokenisation segment, promoting technical discus- sions, best practices and regulatory engagement for this market. ANBIMA, in turn, has contributed techni- cal guides and guidance aimed at the financial and capital markets, particularly in transactions involving tokens representing securities. Together, these entities play a relevant role in self- regulation, market education, technical standardisa- tion and the relationship between private participants and public authorities.
108 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook