Complementary Law No. 105 of January 10, 2001 — Secrecy of Operations of Financial Institutions

Presidency of the Republic

Civil House

Undersecretariat for Legal Affairs

COMPLEMENTARY LAW No. 105, OF JANUARY 10, 2001.

Provides for the secrecy of operations of financial institutions and gives other provisions.

THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC Makes it known that the National Congress decrees and I sanction the following Complementary Law:

Art. 1

Financial institutions shall maintain secrecy in their active and passive operations and services provided.

§ 1 Financial institutions, for the purposes of this Complementary Law, are considered:

I – banks of any kind;

II – securities distributors;

III – foreign exchange and securities brokers;

IV – credit, financing and investment companies;

V – real estate credit companies;

VI – credit card administrators;

VII – leasing companies;

VIII – administrators of organized over-the-counter markets;

IX – credit cooperatives;

X – savings and loan associations;

XI – stock and commodity and futures exchanges;

XII – clearing and settlement entities;

XIII – other companies that, by reason of the nature of their operations, are to be considered as such by the National Monetary Council.

§ 2 Commercial factoring or factoring companies, for the purposes of this Complementary Law, shall comply with the rules applicable to financial institutions provided in § 1.

§ 3 The following do not constitute a violation of the duty of secrecy:

I – the exchange of information between financial institutions, for registration purposes, including through risk centers, observed the rules issued by the National Monetary Council and the Central Bank of Brazil;

II - the provision of information contained in the register of issuers of checks without sufficient funds and of delinquent debtors, to credit protection entities, observed the rules issued by the National Monetary Council and the Central Bank of Brazil;

III – the provision of the information referred to in § 2 of art. 11 of Law No. 9.311, of October 24, 1996;

IV – the communication, to the competent authorities, of the practice of criminal or administrative offenses, including the provision of information on operations involving resources derived from any criminal practice;

V – the disclosure of confidential information with the express consent of the interested parties;

VI – the provision of information under the terms and conditions established in articles 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 9 of this Complementary Law.

VII - the provision of financial and payment data, relating to credit operations and payment obligations fulfilled or in progress of natural or legal persons, to database managers, for the formation of credit history, in accordance with specific legislation. (Included by Complementary Law No. 166, of 2019) (Validity)

VIII - the provision or publication of information relating to the identification of corporate beneficiaries and the values used in the granting of incentives or benefits of a tax, financial or credit nature that imply a decrease in revenue or an increase in expenditure.

(Included by Complementary Law No. 224, of 2025)

Production of effects

§ 4 The breaking of secrecy may be decreed, when necessary for the investigation of the occurrence of any offense, at any stage of the inquiry or judicial process, and especially in the following crimes:

I – terrorism;

II – illicit trafficking of narcotic substances or related drugs;

III – smuggling or trafficking of weapons, ammunition or material intended for their production;

IV – extortion by kidnapping;

V – against the national financial system;

VI – against the Public Administration;

VII – against the tax order and social security;

VIII – money laundering or concealment of assets, rights and values;

IX – committed by a criminal organization.

Art. 2

The duty of secrecy is extended to the Central Bank of Brazil, regarding the operations it carries out and the information it obtains in the exercise of its duties.

§ 1 Secrecy, including with respect to deposit, investment and application accounts maintained in financial institutions, cannot be opposed to the Central Bank of Brazil:

I – in the performance of its supervisory functions, including the investigation, at any time, of offenses committed by controllers, administrators, members of statutory councils, managers, agents and proxies of financial institutions;

II – when conducting an inquiry in a financial institution subject to a special regime.

§ 2 The commissions in charge of the inquiries referred to in item II of § 1 may examine any documents relating to the assets, rights and obligations of financial institutions, their controllers, administrators, members of statutory councils, managers, agents and proxies, including current accounts and operations with other financial institutions.

§ 3 The provisions of this article apply to the Securities and Exchange Commission, when it comes to the supervision of operations and services in the securities market, including in financial institutions that are publicly held companies.

§ 4 The Central Bank of Brazil and the Securities and Exchange Commission, within their areas of competence, may enter into agreements:

I - with other public bodies supervising financial institutions, aiming to carry out joint inspections, observed their respective competencies;

II - with central banks or supervisory entities of other countries, aiming to:

a)

the supervision of branches and subsidiaries of foreign financial institutions, operating in Brazil and of branches and subsidiaries, abroad, of Brazilian financial institutions;

b)

mutual cooperation and the exchange of information for the investigation of activities or operations that imply the application, negotiation, concealment or transfer of financial assets and securities related to the practice of unlawful conduct.

§ 5 The duty of secrecy referred to in this Complementary Law extends to the supervisory bodies mentioned in § 4 and their agents.

§ 6 The Central Bank of Brazil, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the other supervisory bodies, within the areas of their duties, shall provide the Financial Activities Control Council – COAF, referred to in art. 14 of Law No. 9.613, of March 3, 1998, with the registration and movement information of values relating to the operations provided for in item I of art. 11 of said Law.

Art. 3

Information ordered by the Judiciary shall be provided by the Central Bank of Brazil, the Securities and Exchange Commission and financial institutions, preserving their confidential character through restricted access to the parties, who may not use them for purposes unrelated to the litigation.

§ 1 Prior authorization from the Judiciary is required for the provision of information and the supply of confidential documents requested by an administrative inquiry commission intended to determine the responsibility of a public servant for an offense committed in the exercise of their duties, or that has a relationship with the duties of the position in which they are invested.

§ 2 In the cases of § 1, the request for breaking of secrecy does not depend on the existence of a judicial process in progress.

§ 3 In addition to the cases provided for in this article, the Central Bank of Brazil and the Securities and Exchange Commission shall provide the Attorney General's Office of the Union with the information and documents necessary for the defense of the Union in actions in which it is a party.

Art. 4

The Central Bank of Brazil and the Securities and Exchange Commission, within the areas of their duties, and financial institutions shall provide the Federal Legislative Power with the information and confidential documents that are substantively necessary for the exercise of their respective constitutional and legal competencies.

§ 1 Parliamentary inquiry commissions, in the exercise of their constitutional and legal competence for broad investigation, shall obtain the information and confidential documents they need, directly from financial institutions, or through the Central Bank of Brazil or the Securities and Exchange Commission.

§ 2 The requests referred to in this article must be previously approved by the Plenary of the Chamber of Deputies, the Federal Senate, or the plenary of their respective parliamentary inquiry commissions.

Art. 5

The Executive Power shall regulate, including regarding periodicity and value limits, the criteria according to which financial institutions will inform the federal tax administration about the financial operations carried out by users of their services. (Regulation)

§ 1 Financial operations, for the purposes of this article, are considered:

I – demand and time deposits, including in savings accounts;

II – payments made in current currency or by checks;

III – issuance of credit orders or similar documents;

IV – redemptions in demand or time deposit accounts, including savings;

V – loan contracts;

VI – discounts of bills of exchange, promissory notes and other credit instruments;

VII – purchases and sales of fixed or variable income securities;

VIII – investments in investment funds;

IX – purchases of foreign currency;

X – conversions of foreign currency into national currency;

XI – transfers of currency and other values abroad;

XII – operations with gold, a financial asset;

XIII - credit card operations;

XIV - leasing operations; and

XV – any other operations of a similar nature that are to be authorized by the Central Bank of Brazil, the Securities and Exchange Commission or another competent body.

§ 2 The information transferred in the manner of the caput of this article shall be restricted to reports related to the identification of the holders of the operations and the global amounts moved monthly, prohibiting the insertion of any element that allows identifying their origin or the nature of the expenses made from them.

§ 3 The financial operations carried out by the direct and indirect administrations of the Union, the States, the Federal District and the Municipalities are not included among the information referred to in this article.

§ 4 Upon receiving the information referred to in this article, if indications of failures, inaccuracies or omissions, or of the commission of a fiscal offense are detected, the interested authority may request the information and documents it needs, as well as carry out supervision or audit for the proper investigation of the facts.

§ 5 The information referred to in this article shall be kept under fiscal secrecy, in accordance with current legislation.

Art. 6

The authorities and fiscal agents of the Union, the States, the Federal District and the Municipalities may only examine documents, books and records of financial institutions, including those relating to deposit and financial application accounts, when there is an administrative process instituted or a fiscal procedure in progress and such examinations are considered indispensable by the competent administrative authority. (Regulation)

Sole paragraph. The results of the examinations, the information and the documents referred to in this article shall be kept in confidence, observed the tax legislation.

Art. 7

Without prejudice to the provisions of § 3 of art. 2, the Securities and Exchange Commission, upon instituting an administrative inquiry, may request the competent judicial authority to lift the secrecy with financial institutions regarding information and documents relating to the assets, rights and obligations of a natural or legal person subject to its disciplinary power.

Sole paragraph. The Central Bank of Brazil and the Securities and Exchange Commission shall maintain a permanent exchange of information regarding the results of the inspections they carry out, the inquiries they institute and the penalties they apply, whenever the information is necessary for the performance of their activities.

Art. 8

The compliance with the requirements and formalities provided for in articles 4, 6 and 7 shall be expressly declared by the competent authorities in the requests addressed to the Central Bank of Brazil, the Securities and Exchange Commission or financial institutions.

Art. 9

When, in the exercise of their duties, the Central Bank of Brazil and the Securities and Exchange Commission verify the occurrence of a crime defined by law as a public action crime, or indications of the practice of such crimes, they shall inform the Public Ministry, attaching to the communication the documents necessary for the investigation or proof of the facts.

§ 1 The communication referred to in this article shall be made by the Presidents of the Central Bank of Brazil and the Securities and Exchange Commission, with delegation of competence admitted, within a maximum period of fifteen days, from the receipt of the process, with the manifestation of their respective legal services.

§ 2 Regardless of the provisions of the caput of this article, the Central Bank of Brazil and the Securities and Exchange Commission shall communicate to the competent public bodies the irregularities and administrative offenses of which they have knowledge, or indications of their practice, attaching the pertinent documents.

Art. 10.

The breaking of secrecy, outside the hypotheses authorized in this Complementary Law, constitutes a crime and subjects those responsible to the penalty of imprisonment, from one to four years, and a fine, applying, where applicable, the Penal Code, without prejudice to other sanctions applicable.

Sole paragraph. Those who omit, unjustifiably delay or falsely provide the information required under the terms of this Complementary Law incur the same penalties.

Art. 11.

The public servant who uses or facilitates the use of any information obtained as a result of the breaking of secrecy referred to in this Complementary Law is personally and directly liable for the resulting damages, without prejudice to the objective liability of the public entity, when it is proven that the servant acted in accordance with official guidance.

Art. 12.

This Complementary Law enters into force on the date of its publication.

Art. 13.

Art. 38 of Law No. 4.595, of December 31, 1964, is repealed.

Brasília, January 10, 2001; 180th of Independence and 113th of the Republic.

FERNANDO HENRIQUE CARDOSO

José Gregori

Pedro Malan

Martus Tavares

This text does not replace the published in the DOU of 11.1.2001

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