Senate approves names of four nominated to Brazilian Administrative Council for Economic Defense (CADE)

The Senate approved the names of the four individuals nominated by Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro to occupy the positions of commissioners of the Administrative Council for Economic Defense (CADE). The nominees had already gained the approval of the Committee on Economic Affairs (CAE) of the Senate last week. The nominees include lawyers Luiz Augusto Hoffmann, Lenisa Prado, Sérgio Costa Ravagnani and economist Luis Henrique Bertolino Braido.

Luiz Augusto Hoffmann, lawyer, graduated in Law from the Mackenzie Presbyterian University, with a Master’s in Tax Law from the Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo and a PhD in Civil Law from the University of São Paulo.

Lenisa Prado, lawyer, graduated in Law from UniCEUB, earned a Master’s degree in Constitution and Society from the Brasiliense Institute of Public Law and acts as commissioner to the Administrative Council of Tax Appeals (CARF);

Sérgio Costa Ravagnani is Attorney of the National Treasury and current Deputy Head of Economic Policy in the Office of the Deputy for Legal Affairs of the Chief of Staff’s Office, having graduated in Law from the University of Brasilia.

Luis Henrique Bertolino Braido, economist, graduated in Economics from the University of São Paulo, with a Master’s in Economics from the Getulio Vargas Foundation (FGV) and a PhD in Economics from the University of Chicago.

The nomination of the new commissioners must be published in the Official Gazette, after which they can assume their positions.

With the appointment of the new commissioners, the minimum functioning quorum of CADE’s Tribunal, whose activities had been suspended since July, will be reestablished. Thus, currently suspended proceedings will resume and the transactions cleared by the antitrust authority, following the mandatory waiting period, can finally be closed.

The Senate also approved the reappointments of General-Superintendent and Attorney-General of the antitrust agency, respectively Mr. Alexandre Cordeiro and Mr. Walter Agra.

Our Competition practice team is available for any further clarification on this matter.