Brazil’s competition authority is adopting an “ex-ante mindset” as it explores remedies that anticipate future digital regulation.
Brazil’s competition authority is studying remedies that could mirror future ex-ante conditions, according to the agency’s councilor, Camila Alves Pires.
“We are already in the ex-ante mindset,”
Pires told a 4th BRICS + Digital Competition Forum on Thursday, explaining that the authority is working on solutions that anticipate regulatory changes aimed at increasing transparency and reducing legal uncertainty.
She emphasized that ex-ante and ex-post enforcement are not substitutes but complementary.
“Ex-ante creates a baseline for ex-post cases, giving an expected conduct, shortening legal ambiguities and investigation timelines,”
she noted.
For Pires, the biggest challenge in digital cases is opacity, and ex-ante transparency rules could help change that reality. She added that ex-ante information could be used in merger reviews and probes, while ex-post enforcement remains a backstop since not all harms can be anticipated.
The shift, she said, brings spillover effects: a richer notion of harm, more structured and forward-looking remedies, and higher transparency standards. Pires also warned against regulatory gaps caused by waiting for final decisions in markets that evolve rapidly.
Victor Jardim, Pires’ chief of staff, pointed to challenges in implementing proposed ex-ante legislation, including “novelties” such as agenda setting. Under the new framework, CADE’s Tribunal will present a priority agenda, changing how the investigative unit operates. The bill includes mechanisms for participation, such as public hearings and receiving contributions from any interested party, introducing scrutiny from civil society and requiring greater coordination among agencies and government.
Consultation, coordination and agenda setting will make the process more transparent, Jardim said.
Source: MLex
