After more than six years under discussion, Bill No. 6,407/13 (the Gas Bill) was approved by the Chamber of Deputies' Mines and Energy Committee on October 23rd. The text amends provisions of Law No. 11,909/09, which establishes the legal framework for the natural gas sector in Brazil.

With the extinction of so many airlines in Brazil over the last 20 years, it is essential to conduct an analysis of the factors that led these companies to fail, one after the other, unable to reorganize financially in order to continue operating in the market.

One issue that is the subject of frequent debate in the administrative courts with jurisdiction to decide issues raised against infraction notices is the possibility for the administrative authority, after drawing up the infraction notice, to modify the grounds invoked by the authority or even introduce new elements of evidence to strengthen the grounds thereof.

As of October 14, mandatory publications by corporates must be carried out via the Public Digital Bookkeeping System (SPED), in the case of privately-held companies, and Empresas.NET, for publicly-held companies, in addition to the websites of these organizations themselves, and no longer in major newspapers.

Since the STF settled the theory that the ICMS tax is not included in the taxable base for the levy of the PIS and Cofins, in the judgment of Extraordinary Appeal (RE) No. 574,706, many taxpayers had a definitive resolution in their individual cases on the topic, which gave room to new controverted issues. One of the most relevant controversies, due to the cash effects found, concerns when to tax by the IRPJ and CSLL the amount of credits recognized in court and which will be subject to administrative offsetting.

Presidential Decree No. 10,029/19, published on September 27, authorized the Central Bank of Brazil (BCB) to recognize the following as being in the interest of the Brazilian government: (i) installation in Brazil of new branches of financial institutions domiciled abroad; and (ii) increase in the percentage of equity in the capital of financial institutions headquartered in Brazil, held by individuals or legal entities resident or domiciled abroad.