BRAZIL Trends and Developments Contributed by: Eduardo Castro, Pedro Nasi and Gabriel Libanori, Machado, Meyer, Sendacz e Opice
• payment services conducted through those accounts;
Institutions authorised to operate in the foreign exchange market could therefore settle transactions for these purposes, and within these limits, provided that the eFX service provider involved was a regulated market participant – though not necessarily author - ised to operate directly in foreign exchange. Unregulated eFX service providers continue to be authorised to receive payments in reais exclusively for the purposes of conducting transactions of up to USD10,000 for the acquisition of goods and services abroad. In 2025, the BCB launched a public consultation proposing that unregulated eFX service providers be required to obtain authorisation as payment institu - tions. Under the proposal, these providers would need to become electronic money issuers, acquirers or post-paid instrument issuers in order to receive pay - ments in reais and conduct FX transactions of up to USD10,000 for cross-border purchases. This would effectively subject the same services they currently offer to a licensing regime that does not necessarily align with their core business model. The final regulation has not yet been issued and remains under consideration by the BCB.
• acquiring services; • credit services; and
• possible additional services according to the BCB. Payment initiation services, crypto-asset services and foreign exchange are therefore excluded from the new rule’s scope. Foreign exchange may only be offered through banking correspondents, while partnerships involving crypto-assets or payment initiation services may be executed provided that they do not infringe current rules. Public consultation involving eFX service providers eFX service providers traditionally operated as unreg - ulated entities, using powers of attorney to enable Brazilian consumers to purchase goods and services abroad without relying on internationally accepted credit cards. These providers acted as collection agents: they received payments in Brazilian reais from buyers in Brazil and then carried out consoli - dated foreign exchange transactions, through institu - tions authorised to operate in the FX market, to remit funds abroad to the foreign service provider or seller. Around 2021, this activity was incorporated into the foreign exchange regulatory framework. The regula - tion allowed institutions authorised to operate in for - eign exchange to settle consolidated FX transactions with unregulated eFX service providers for amounts up to USD10,000 per transaction, strictly for the pur - pose of acquiring goods and services abroad. Addi - tional types of consolidated settlements were permit - ted when the service provider was a regulated entity, including transactions: • ensuring the availability of funds abroad (up to USD10,000); • for unilateral transfers (up to USD10,000); • for the purchase of goods and services (no value limit); and • involving internationally issued cards.
120 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook