Brazil's Supreme Court Orders Annual Review of Debtors' Income Shield and Extends It to Payroll Loans

Overview

• The court directed the National Monetary Council to run yearly studies and publish findings before any change to the protected share of a borrower's income.
• Justices kept the current R$600 floor in place for now and said any future revision must rest on technical evidence.
• Payroll-deductible loans, known as crédito consignado, will now fall under the protection after having been excluded by earlier rules.
• Minister Kassio Nunes Marques cast the final vote and backed the study requirement and the R$600 figure pending review.
• The framework stems from Brazil’s 2021 superindebtedness law, which defined a subsistence minimum later set at R$303 in 2022 and raised to R$600 in 2023.