Brazil Fast-Tracks Law to Give Cade New Powers Over Big Tech

Overview

• Relator Aliel Machado formally filed his substitute parecer on July 8 and pushed the bill to be voted directly in the Chamber plenary next week before the July recess.
• The text creates a Superintendência Especial de Relevância Sistêmica inside Cade to monitor large platforms, led by a presidential appointee approved by the Senate for a two‑year term.
• Companies may be designated as 'agents of systemic relevance' through an administrative process if global annual revenue exceeds R$50 billion or Brazil revenue exceeds R$5 billion, with those thresholds indexed to the IPCA.
• Designated platforms could face tailored obligations such as transparency on ranking and fees, data portability and interoperability, bans on self‑preferencing and tying, plus enforcement tools including daily fines starting at R$20,000 that can be increased up to 50 times and competition‑law sanctions; the relator also turned mandatory merger pre‑clearance into an informative notification and added a voluntary compliance path for firms.
• The vote faces political pushback from opposition deputies seeking to delay until after elections, and if approved the measure would go to the Senate and, once sanctioned, enter into force 60 days after presidential approval while reshaping how digital markets are policed in Brazil.