Institutional developments in Brazilian competition enforcement: September-December 2025

Brazilian government looks to expand antitrust enforcement powers over digital platforms

In September 2025, the Brazilian Government introduced Bill No. 4,675/2025 to Congress. Based on a proposal from the Ministry of Finance’s Secretariat for Economic Reform, the bill seeks to expand the Brazilian Antitrust Authority’s (CADE) enforcement powers over digital platforms. It provides for establishing a digital markets superintendence within CADE, designates ‘systemically relevant agents’ in line with technical and economic criteria, sets special obligations for platforms, social participation mechanisms, compliance report requirements, and penalties for non‑compliance. At this stage, the bill still requires congressional review.

Changes to CADE’s leniency agreement guidelines

CADE released an updated edition of its leniency guidelines in September 2025, with changes designed to make the negotiation process more predictable and transparent.

In addition to classic price‑fixing and bid‑rigging cartels, the new edition of the guidelines addresses other forms of coordinated conduct that may result in leniency agreements. These include exchanging competitively sensitive information as a specific form of conduct, purchase cartels, wage‑fixing, and no‑poaching agreements.

Another significant development concerns the preliminary phase, which precedes the negotiations of the agreement itself. During this phase, potential interested parties may anonymously submit questions on whether certain conduct would be eligible for leniency. Upon providing information about the conduct and a list of evidence, parties may also request that CADE’s General Superintendence assess whether the requirements for a leniency agreement have been met and provide a hypothetical marker. Moreover, it is possible for parties on leniency’s waiting lists to bring negotiations forward.

The guidelines also specify measures for expediting negotiations. For example, when providing a marker, the General Superintendence should establish a negotiation schedule with deadlines, a maximum expected timeframe, and criteria for potential extensions.

Furthermore, the new edition of the guidelines explains that the General Superintendence, the Office of the Comptroller General (CGU), and the Office of the Attorney General (AGU) may jointly negotiate leniency agreements involving bid‑rigging cartels. This coordinated action optimizes investigative efforts and reduces costs for the parties involved.

CADE’s contribution regarding essential patents

CADE recently published a study on Standard Essential Patents (SEPs). Essential patents are patents necessary for implementing technical standards, which give their holders a privileged position in licensing negotiations. When product developers adopt a technical standard that the patented technology is essential for, they are obliged to obtain a license for that technology, guaranteeing the patent holder demand for the invention. To limit the risk of abuse, SEP holders often make licensing commitments according to FRAND (fair, reasonable, and non‑discriminatory) terms to balance exclusivity, innovation, and access.

Although the number of SEP cases in Brazil remains limited, the issue has become more significant in light of the growth of the high‑tech sector, increases in global legal disputes, and the role these technologies play in promoting innovation and interoperability between technology systems.

CADE’s study aims to take a comparative approach to strengthen its ability to review specific cases. It examines Brazilian and international legislation and judicial decisions involving several aspects of SEPs, such as royalty remuneration, contracting obligations, access, and essentiality. CADE also considers SEPs worthy of attention from an antitrust perspective, mainly in regard to conduct such as refusing to contract, abusive clauses, the use of fraudulent or defensive patents, the formation of patent pools, and sham litigation.

Public hearings

In November 2025, CADE held a public hearing to discuss competition issues in relation to liquid fuels, a priority sector for the authority during the next two years. The event brought together specialists, academics, fuel producers, refining, distribution and retail companies, as well as regulatory bodies and civil society. During the hearing, CADE informed that it would analyze and consider how the contributions could help with monitoring the sector and guiding the authority’s future decisions.

Agreement with the Office of the Comptroller General leads to increased technical cooperation

In October 2025, CADE and the Office of the Comptroller General (CGU) conducted Operation Anteprojeto (Preliminary Project) to investigate evidence of cartel behavior among engineering companies in bids for carrying out emergency services on federal highways in the state of Rio Grande do Sul in 2024. The agencies had already conducted a joint operation in five states in December 2024 to investigate similar practices in the civil construction sector. Both operations stem from a technical cooperation agreement signed in November 2023, which seeks to boost integration and efficiency among the two authorities in their fight against cartels.

For more information on these topics, please contact Mattos Filho’s Antitrust practice area.