Review №5 of Brazilian Antitrust News from the Experts of the BRICS Competition Centre
- CADE has published a report on data protection remedies in digital markets
- A cartel in the animal waste market in Rio Grande do Sul has been convicted
- A settlement agreement has been approved in the investment platform and asset management market
- The regulator has launched an investigation into the pediatric surgery market in Campo Grande
- The B3 exchange has encountered regulatory opposition in its expansion attempt
- CADE has appealed the acquisition of Hospital Santa Catarina
- A review has been initiated for a transaction in the rare earth metals sector
- A transaction in the AI segment has led CADE to resort to a legal exception
- CADE is actively applying antitrust law in the fuel market
CADE has published a report on data protection remedies in digital markets
The Brazilian regulator has released a report focused on the development, application, and monitoring of data remedies in digital markets. The report was prepared by Niccolò Zingales, a consultant for the United Nations Development Programme. It is based on extensive international experience from both antitrust authorities and other agencies involved in competition-related issues, such as data protection authorities.
Considerable attention is given to mechanisms of interagency coordination when handling cases at the intersection of competition law and data protection. The report identifies and characterizes best regulatory practices as well as controversial challenges faced by various jurisdictions. In a broader context, the publication makes a significant contribution to the development of an independent methodology in Brazil for assessing antitrust measures in digital markets, as well as for evaluating data remedies within competition policy.
It is worth noting that the intersection of competition and data issues is becoming increasingly relevant in Brazil. In 2018, the General Data Protection Law (LGPD) was adopted, establishing a legal framework for cooperation between CADE and the National Data Protection Authority (ANPD).
Source: CADE
A cartel in the animal waste market in Rio Grande do Sul has been convicted
The CADE Tribunal unanimously convicted the companies ASM Comércio de Subprodutos de Origem Animal Ltda., ASM Comércio e Coleta de Ossos Ltda., and Frigorífico Cason Ltda., as well as two individuals, for anti-competitive practices in the animal waste procurement market in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul. The total fines imposed exceed $1.3 million.
According to the authority, the structural characteristics of the regional market—such as a limited number of buyers, the standardized nature of the purchased product, and low supply elasticity—created favorable conditions for the formation of a procurement cartel. Using messages retrieved from messaging apps and emails, the authority documented prior collusion: the exchange of competitively sensitive information, the creation of barriers for companies not part of the cartel, and the division of raw material collection sites among the participants.
Brazil is the world’s largest exporter of beef, pork, and poultry, which generates significant volumes of animal waste at slaughterhouses and meat processing plants. The processed raw materials—such as fats, bones, and feathers—are used in the production of biodiesel, animal feed, cosmetics, and various food ingredients. This case is one of the few examples of a procurement cartel, or buyer cart in CADE’s enforcement history.
Source: CADE
A settlement agreement has been approved in the investment platform and asset management market
In May, a settlement agreement was ratified in a gun jumping case involving the companies AZ Quest, AZ Brasil, and XP. The case concerned the acquisition by XP Managers of a 5% equity stake in the asset management company AZ Quest. The transaction was executed in October 2021, effectively completed in January 2022, but notification to CADE was only submitted in July 2025.
CADE found a violation because the transaction met the criteria for mandatory pre-merger notification. Under the terms of the settlement agreement, the parties agreed to pay a fine of $550,000.
Source: CADE
The regulator has launched an investigation into the pediatric surgery market in Campo Grande
CADE's General Superintendence initiated an administrative investigation against SECIPE (Serviços Cirúrgicos Pediátricos de Campo Grande/MS), an organization of pediatric surgery professionals, on suspicion of anti-competitive conduct in the pediatric surgery services market in Campo Grande, Mato Grosso do Sul state. According to the regulator, the company has concentrated most of the region's qualified pediatric surgeons within its structure and functions as a centralized negotiating body when dealing with hospitals and insurers.
A preliminary investigation revealed evidence of collective fee setting based on a uniform price list, as well as restrictions on individual surgeons' ability to enter into contracts independently. Given that the pediatric surgery market is particularly sensitive—these services cannot be easily substituted and interventions are often urgent—CADE imposed a cease-and-desist order requiring SECIPE to refrain from preparing and distributing price schedules, participating in any collective or individual negotiations, or creating obstacles to surgeons working independently, including contacts with patients.
Previously, the regulator has repeatedly applied antitrust law to associations of medical professionals that use organizational structures to coordinate the working conditions of competing physicians.
Source: CADE
The B3 exchange has encountered regulatory opposition in its expansion attempt
Within CADE, there is a recommendation to reject the transaction in which B3 S.A. – Brazil’s largest stock exchange and a leading financial market organization – would acquire 60% of the shares of CRDC S.A., which it planned to purchase from the São Paulo Trade Association (ACSP). The regulator also recommended blocking the associated partnership agreement. CRDC operates as a financial asset registration system accredited by the Central Bank of Brazil.
Following its initial investigation, CADE identified competitive risks on several grounds: the elimination by the exchange of its competitor in a concentrated market with high barriers to entry; the creation of inorganic competitive advantages in an emerging segment of the financial market; and the creation of incentives to engage in bundling, tying, and cross-subsidization practices leveraging B3’s extensive service portfolio. Furthermore, the parties did not propose any remedies to address the violations, despite the regulator’s corresponding offer. The case has been submitted to the CADE Tribunal for a final decision.
Source: CADE
CADE has appealed the acquisition of Hospital Santa Catarina
CADE's General Superintendence has filed a motion with the tribunal to reject the transaction through which Unimed Blumenau would acquire full control of Hospital Santa Catarina, the main general hospital in Blumenau (Santa Catarina state). Unimed Blumenau is the leading health insurance provider within the municipality. According to available data, Unimed Blumenau serves more than 75% of the city's insured residents.
CADE's analysis identified an incentive for vertical market foreclosure—by limiting competing insurers' access to a key hospital—as well as several other risks. The remedies proposed by the parties to address the violations were deemed insufficient. The case has been submitted to the CADE Tribunal with a recommendation to block the transaction.
Source: CADE
A review has been initiated for a transaction in the rare earth metals sector
A review procedure has been opened regarding the transaction between Brazilian company Serra Verde Pesquisa e Mineração S.A. and U.S. company USA Rare Earth, Inc. (USAR). The purpose of the review is to determine whether the transaction has any competitive implications. The parties planned to create a multinational full-cycle enterprise in the rare earth metals sector—from mining to production—with eight facilities in Brazil, the United States, France, and the United Kingdom. In addition to the merger, Serra Verde had entered into a 15-year agreement to supply 100% of the output from its first production phase to a specially created entity led by certain U.S. government agencies and private investors.
The opening of this review does not, at this stage, indicate any competitive violations.
Brazil holds the world’s second-largest volume of rare earth metal reserves (approximately 21 million tons), trailing only China, which controls about 85% of global production. Amid a race to create independent rare earth supply chains free from Chinese dominance, Brazilian deposits have acquired strategic importance and are attracting foreign investors, including foreign governments.
Source: CADE
A transaction in the AI segment has led CADE to resort to a legal exception
In May, the regulator reviewed a set of cases involving transactions in the artificial intelligence sector. The cases involving NVIDIA – Run:ai, Google – Character.AI, and Microsoft – Mistral AI were dismissed due to the lack of grounds for mandatory or voluntary notification (insufficient revenue in Brazil, no indications of market power, or no competitive concerns). At the same time, two new review procedures were initiated to determine the need for notification—concerning the Google – Windsurf and Google – Hume AI transactions.
The Microsoft – Inflection AI transaction was resolved differently. Under this arrangement, Microsoft licensed the company's technology and hired substantially all of its personnel. However, the regulator concluded that this combination of actions (hiring the team and licensing intellectual property without a formal acquisition) reproduces the economic logic of traditional mergers. On this basis, the regulator's tribunal, as an exception, applied Article 88, Section 7 of Law No. 12.529/2011 and required the parties to notify the transaction within 30 days.
The antitrust authority emphasized that in digital markets and the AI segment, arrangements involving the transfer of technology, intangible assets, the hiring of professional teams, or competitive potential may be subject to antitrust review even in the absence of significant revenue in Brazil. This position is consistent with the approaches of antitrust authorities in the EU, the US, and the UK, which have also intensified monitoring of big tech actions in the AI segment in recent years. In particular, the US Federal Trade Commission has investigated Microsoft's investments in OpenAI, and the European Commission has examined Google – DeepMind and Amazon – Anthropic transactions.
Source: CADE
CADE is actively applying antitrust law in the fuel market
In May 2026, CADE recorded two significant developments in the fight against anti-competitive practices in the retail fuel market.
The CADE Tribunal convicted three companies and two entrepreneurs in the city of Coronel Vivida (Paraná state) for forming a cartel to participate in public tenders and coordinating prices at gas stations. The fines imposed exceeded $10 million.
At the same time, the regulator concluded an investigation and recommended that the tribunal convict the industry syndicate Sindicato do Comércio Varejista de Combustíveis e Lubrificantes do Distrito Federal (Sindicombustíveis/DF) and its chairman. Between 2022 and 2025, more than 200 public posts were recorded on Instagram, YouTube, and even the podcast "O Dono do Posto," which, in the regulator's view, contained information on prices, margins, operating costs, and profitability thresholds in the market. All of this was classified as coordination signals, potentially restraining fuel price reductions in the Federal District, where the accused company operated. The tribunal has yet to issue a final decision.
The retail fuel market remains among CADE's priorities: in July 2025, the authority issued a special order including it in the list of priority sectors for antitrust analysis for the 2025–2026 period. Brazil has more than 41,000 gas stations, and the market is characterized by high fragmentation at the retail level combined with concentration in the distribution segment.
