Foreign Founders & Companies in Brazil

We assist foreign founders and companies who decide to operate in Brazil — whether through a local subsidiary, representative office, joint venture or simple engagement of local suppliers. The chosen structure has direct effects on minimum capital, profit repatriation, tax regime and director liability.

We design the Brazilian legal entity (Sociedade Limitada, S.A. or single-member Limited Liability Company as appropriate), appoint legal representatives, register with the relevant authorities, open the bank account and frame the foreign direct investment (IED). We run reverse due diligence for investors who need to understand the regulatory landscape before committing capital.

We structure contracts with Brazilian suppliers and partners — software houses, agencies, distributors, service providers — with venue, governing law, intellectual property, confidentiality and indemnity clauses adequate to a party operating from a foreign jurisdiction. We handle the employment relationship when direct hiring occurs in Brazil and PJ/CLT models when relevant.

In intellectual property, we manage trademark registration with the INPI and through the Madrid Protocol (Brazil joined on October 2, 2019, enabling extension from a foreign base application). We handle copyright assignment, software, industrial design and anti-counterfeiting actions.

In data protection, we apply Brazil's LGPD with its extraterritorial reach (art. 3, II): a foreign company that offers products or services in the Brazilian territory falls under the law, even without local seat. We work on data mapping, DPIAs, international transfer contracts and DPO appointment.

In dispute resolution, we represent foreign companies in commercial disputes, debt recovery, consumer-claim defense and arbitration. We work with local and international chambers and with robust forum selection clauses. The defense begins before litigation — in the careful drafting of the contract.