Competition law experts and businesspersons are following with apprehension the end of the term of office of the commissioners on the Administrative Tribunal of the Administrative Council for Economic Defense (Cade).

The evolution of the Brazilian economy in recent years has brought new challenges to those responsible for the management of closed private pension entities (EFPCs), governed by Complementary Law No. 109/2001 (LC 109) and by Law No. 6,404/1976 (the Brazilian Corporations Law). Unlike companies that have the purpose of obtaining profit for their shareholders and other stakeholders involved, however, EFPCs aim at the management of funds for the payment of pension benefits to their beneficiaries.

On May 14, the Fourth Panel of the Superior Court of Justice (STJ) reaffirmed its understanding that the presence of the same parties is not necessary to give rise to lis pendens in collective actions in which a party with extraordinary standing appears due to procedural substitution.

The 3rd Panel of the Superior Court of Justice (STJ) affirmed, in a non-unanimous decision, that judicial reorganization plans approved by the majority of the creditors of a company undergoing judicial restructuring may suppress secured or unsecured guarantees, even without the express consent of the creditor who holds the guarantee.

The text of The Hague Convention on the Service Abroad of Judicial and Extrajudicial Documents in Civil or Commercial Matters (Hague Service Convention) was promulgated on March 21 through Decree no. 9,734/2019. Signed in The Hague on November 15, 1965, the Hague Service Convention was originally signed by six states and is now in force in 73 countries. With the enactment of Decree no. 9,734/2019, the Convention will come into effect in Brazil on June 1, 2019.

The natural gas market is gaining more and more relevance in Brazil as a way to diversify the country's energy sources. To foster the development of the sector, changes in legislation and regulations have been discussed, especially since 2016, when the Ministry of Mines and Energy launched the Gas to Grow (Gás para Crescer) initiative, with the participation of the entire natural gas market and some government bodies.