VMCA Partner talks to Capital Aberto magazine about the two-month-long delay in nominations which paralyzed CADE

Partner Vinicius Marques de Carvalho talked to Capital Aberto magazine about the two-month-long delay in nominations which paralyzed CADE from July to September.

While awaiting for the Federal Government new nominations, CADE’s Board of Directors had only two members and four empty positions, meaning the agency was not able to form the quorum required to rule on upcoming mergers. The lack of commissioners halted all meetings from bthe beginning of July to the end of September, and the backlog of cases reached 70 deals.

According to Vinicius, in addition to these 70 deals, it’s impossible to mensurate how many operations might have been canceled or suspended by the parties due to the lack of quorum.

Full article available here.

JOTA’s VMCA column discusses CADE’s cease and desist agreements in unilateral conduct

In VMCA’s column published by Jota in September, André Ferraz and Rebeca Souza addressed CADE’s use of cease and desist agreements (TCC) in cases of unilateral conduct. “The problem lies in the fact that improper sanction in an administrative proceeding involving unilateral conduct (false positive) could often be a solution potentially more damaging to the market”.

Read the full article here.

Marcela Mattiuzzo talks to Época Negócios about the Congress decision to overrides vetoes on LGPD

VMCA partner Marcela Mattiuzzo talked to Época Negócios magazine about the Brazilian Congress decision to override President Bolsonaro’s vetoes on the law that created the Data Protection National Authority (ANPD, in its Portuguese Acronym). With this decision, it was reestablished that companies who break the Personal Data Protection General Law (LGPD) will have their database operations suspended.

According to Marcela, the law currently does not define what “automated decisions” are, but there is a Senate bill on artificial intelligence that would address the issue.

“Creating a legal definition to something that will necessarily evolve over time is reckless. What is automation and what is an automated decision will change over the years,” she says.

Full article available here.

Chambers Latin America 2020 recognizes VMCA among the Brazilian leading firms in Competition

The British publication Chambers and Partners included VMCA and its founding partner Vinicius Marques de Carvalho among Latin America’s leading firms and practitioners in the Competition practice in its recent launched Chambers Latin America 2020 guide.

“In addition to having an in-depth knowledge of competition law, he can offer a different perception of Cade, thus allowing us to better present the case before the authority”, stated a client heard by the publication, which also stressed that Vinicius is widely recognised by market commentators for his past experience as a former president of CADE. Another one pinpointed as one of the firm’s strength “the excellent results obtained by the team and their business-oriented approach.”

Vale snaps up mining counterpart in Brazil

White & Case LLP in New York and the São Paulo offices of Azevedo Sette Advogados and Vinicius Marques de Carvalho Advogados have helped Brazilian mining company Vale buy a majority stake in counterpart Ferrous for 2.1 billion reais (US$550 million), tells Latin Lawyer.

Partner Eduardo Frade and associate Anna Binotto advised Vale on competition matters involving the operation, including the company’s representation before Cade.

Read the full article here.

 

Brazilian court clears GSK/Pfizer divestiture

Partner Eduardo Frade talked to Global Competition Review (GCR) about the approval, by a Brazilian federal judge, of Pfizer’s sale of assets to Aspen Pharmacare, ending a suspension caused by lack of quorum at the country’s competition watchdog. 

Back in June, CADE unconditionally cleared Aspen’s proposed acquisition of Pfizer’s bisurated magnesium assets. However, last month CADE announced that it was suspending all procedural deadlines after commissioner Paulo Burnier da Silveira’s term ended, leaving the authority with only three commissioners.

Aspen and Pfizer challenged the suspension before a federal court in Brasilia. Judge Edna Márcia Silva Medeiros Ramos of 13th Federal Court of the Federal District found that it was unreasonable to halt the tie-up because of the competition authority’s quorum issues, adding that the suspension was being lifted to prevent financial losses to the companies from delays.

Full article available here.

Marcela Mattiuzzo debates algorithmic governance and its consequences for antitrust analysis

In an article published at the Revista de Economia Contemporânea (REC), partner Marcela Mattiuzzo debates algorithmic governance and its consequences for antitrust analysis.

In the article, Marcela discusses the growing use of algorithmic systems, the movement that is focused on counteracting the possible bad results that may arise from this growing use, and the consequences of these proposals to the antitrust scenery.

Full article is available here.

PDF is available here.

 

Partner Vinicius Marques de Carvalho moderates panel in congress about the oil industry in Brasilia

VMCA partner Vinicius Marques de Carvalho spoke in a panel during the congress “Challenges of a New Context in the Downstream”, which took place in Brasilia on August 7, and gathered together experts in the Brazilian oil and fuel sectors.

Vinicius moderated the discussion “Tax Challenges for the sector’s transition”, which also had the presence of representatives from the Economy Ministry of Brazil.