Regulatory Approval for Acquisitions in Brazil
In Brazil, CADE is the governmental organization responsible for approving the acquisition of companies. In this article you will find out what CADE is and how to get CADE's approval.
CADE is the Conselho Administrativo de Defesa Econômica, which is the Administrative Council of Economic Defense . Its main role is to authorize and monitor operations between companies, such as acquisitions.
The entity has guarantee free competition in the market. Composed by a tribunal, a general superintendent and a department of economic studies, CADE is the only government organization that can allow acquisitions in Brazil.
So, if you want to acquire a company you will need CADE's approval. To obtain the approval from CADE you must inform SISCOP first.
Introduction to SISCOP
Aiming to speed up the process of applications CADE developed the System of View and Copies of CADE, the SISCOP (Sistema de Vista e de Cópias ). It is a user friendly system, where registered citizens and lawyers can do the following:
- order copies and examine the records
- track the order status
- be notified by email if the request has been accepted
- receive the payment slip by e-mail which should be paid in case of request for copies.
In the future, the system intends to facilitate the internal management of requests, making them more flexible.
CADE will still receive requests for views and copies in their offices until this brief transition between systems is completed. This is very important in order for internal operators and interested citizens to become used to the virtual tool.
In case of doubt, you can contact the Customer Service of CADE on:
(61) 3221-8505 / 8507.
Register
First you must register to access the system. The registry will ask for:
After the register you will have to wait for a confirmation of the administrator sent by email, and when that happens, you can finally log in to SISCOP.
Initial Screen
After the administrator approves your registration, you will have access to the initial screen in which you can accesses the following options:
- solicitar cópia – ask for copy
- solicitar vista – ask for view
- situações dos pedidos – status of orders
Solicitar Cópia
If you click in the option “solicitar cópia”, another screen will open and a search bar will appear. In the bar you should type the number of your process. It is not necessary to type all the digits of the process, just by a few numbers the system is able to narrow down the search and it's up to you to find your own process and click on it.
After picking the process, another screen should open requesting some information about the process, such as:
- number of the process
- type of the process
- parties
The fields that will appear requesting information must be properly filled in. If you wish to access the full copy of the process you must click on “cópia integral”. If you wish to access only a partial copy of the process you can get it by accessing the option “cópia parcial”. It will be necessary to note the number of pages that will be copied.
Once you have made the request, the administrator will receive a notification on the system. If the copies were authorized you will receive an email informing you of the acceptance. If the request wasn't authorized, you will also be informed via email.
CADE will calculate the value of the copies requested and generate a State Revenue Collection Guide (GRU). The GRU will be sent to you and with the confirmation of the payment, the process of copy will be held. When the copies are done an e-mail will be sent to you informing you that the copies are available in the CADE office for withdrawal.
Solicitar Vista
From the initial screen, after clicking "solicitar vista" another screen will open with a search bar – where you can search for your process through its number. After you have found your process, a screen will appear requesting some information about the process, such as:
- number of the process
- type of the process
- parties
If copies of confidential files were requested to be viewed it is strongly recommended to inform them whether or not you have power of attorney joined to the process. You also need to tell them on which respective page the file can be found.
In the screen there is the option “tenho procuração no processo”- this should be marked if you have power of attorney of the process.
Once you have made the request, the administrator will be notified by the system. If the view is allowed, the user will receive an email informing the acceptance. If the request was refused, you will also be informed through email.
Situações dos Pedidos
You can monitor the status of your order by clicking the option “Situação dos pedidos” in the initial screen.
Out of SISCOP
In exceptional cases, the Unity of Protocol of CADE will provide the external public withan application formfor views and/ or copies. This is overlooked by the General Coordination of Procedures.The form must be completed in writing. This is for administrative reasons restricted by the General Superintendence of CADE, which are not covered by SISCOP. It is noteworthy that except for this, all other existing procedures of SISCOP will be maintained, and that it is forbidden to disclose all or part of the documents obtained and its contents. This includes sharing.