Elements of Bankruptcy Law and Business Rescue in Brazil

Abstract

Culminating more than a decade of debates, the Brazilian government enacted the Nova Lei de Falências e Recuperação de Empresas, Law N° 11,101 (“Brazilian Bankruptcy Law” or “BBL”), which was published on 9 February 2005 and came into effect on 9 June 2005. It was the first major overhaul of Brazil’s corporate insolvency laws in sixty years. The BBL replaced the previous bankruptcy law, i.e. Decree-Law 7,661 (“Prior Bankruptcy Law”), which had been in force since 1945. The BBL represents a significant change in the principles and in the form of activity of the various players involved in bankruptcy and reorganisation processes in Brazil. Most ancient practices are now abandoned as society increasingly adapts itself to the new stimuli incorporated into the Brazilian legal system by the BBL, which has completed a decade in 2015.