A working guide for foreign founders, investors, and companies entering the Brazilian market — written by counsel who structures cross-border deals every week, not from theory.
Step-by-step legal guidance for every stage of your entry.
Avoid common mistakes and costly delays in Brazil.
We work with clients from 8+ countries every year.
Lawyers who advise real deals, not theoretical models.
Everything you need to know to enter, operate, and scale in Brazil — with clarity and confidence.
Download the guide →Understand the Brazilian market, legal overview, and key business models.
→Choose the right structure and register your company in Brazil the right way.
→Navigate the tax system and stay compliant with local obligations.
→Key contracts, labor law, data protection, and day-to-day operations.
→Protect your brand, technology, and IP in Brazil.
→Buy, sell, or resolve disputes with confidence and protection.
→From market entry to exit, we help foreign companies make the right moves in Brazil with legal strategy and local expertise.
Book a consultation →Brazil rewards careful entry. The rules are written, the institutions function — what matters is structuring the move properly from day one.
This guide brings together the questions foreign clients actually ask before they incorporate in Brazil, register foreign capital at the Central Bank, file at INPI, sign a cross-border contract, or close a Brazilian acquisition. Each chapter is written from active practice, not from textbook description. The goal is simple: give you enough technical clarity to model your move before legal execution — and to know what to expect at every step.
Monika Hosaki // Managing PartnerForeign companies, founders, and investors from anywhere in the world rely on Brazilian counsel to enter the market without losing time, capital, or remittance permission. This is that counsel — written in English, structured for foreign decision-makers, and grounded in active practice.
Every chapter comes from active cross-border work — incorporation, RDE-IED, INPI filings, M&A, arbitration. No theory disguised as guidance.
Written in English, structured for founders and in-house counsel who need to understand Brazil before instructing local lawyers — not after.
Hosaki Advogados is led by a lawyer who built and ran companies. The guide reads like a counsel briefing a board, not a treatise filed for archive.
One partner, deep specialization, direct access. The matter you bring is handled by the lawyer you talked to — never delegated to an associate you never met.
Managing Partner at Hosaki Advogados, São Paulo. Over a decade advising at the intersection of intellectual property, corporate law, and digital business — for foreign companies operating in Brazil and Brazilian companies operating abroad.
Author and lecturer in IP, new technologies, and legal entrepreneurship. Speaker at OAB (Brazilian Bar Association) events and innovation hubs across Brazil.
In practice, yes. A foreign company cannot register a Brazilian entity, obtain a CNPJ, file the RDE-IED at the Central Bank, or enforce a contract before Brazilian courts or arbitration without local counsel. Each step has formal requirements that change frequently — a legal partner with operational experience prevents delays that block remittances and licenses.
LTDA (Sociedade Limitada) is more common for operational subsidiaries: simpler governance, lower cost, faster setup. S.A. (Sociedade Anônima, governed by Law 6,404/76) is the format required when the company plans to raise capital through share issuance or to list. The choice should be made before incorporation — converting later is possible but disruptive.
Yes. Foreign direct investment must be registered at the Central Bank of Brazil through the RDE-IED system. Without RDE-IED, the foreign investor cannot lawfully repatriate profits, dividends, or original capital. Each capital event — initial contribution, increase, transfer, exit — requires an update.
Yes. A foreign company can own a Brazilian trademark by filing directly at INPI (Brazilian Patent and Trademark Office) or through the Madrid Protocol, designating Brazil. Brazil has been a Madrid Protocol member since 2 October 2019. Local representation by a Brazilian agent is required for INPI proceedings.
Both are available, but international arbitration is often preferred for cross-border deals. Brazil ratified the New York Convention (1958), and the Brazilian Arbitration Act (Law 9,307/1996) is recognized as modern and enforcement-friendly. Foreign arbitral awards must be homologated by the Superior Court of Justice (STJ) before execution.
Royalty remittances and technology transfer payments must be supported by an agreement registered at INPI. Brazilian regulation has historically imposed deductibility ceilings and tax treatment specific to the type of contract (trademark license, patent license, technology supply, technical assistance). The framework continues to evolve — model the deal before signing, not after.
Realistic timeline: 6 to 12 weeks from kickoff to operational entity. Variables: choice of vehicle (LTDA is faster than S.A.), registration of the foreign quotaholder at the Central Bank, CNPJ issuance, state and municipal registrations, opening a bank account (often the longest step), and INPI filings. Plan in parallel — sequential execution doubles the timeline.
Yes. The Marco Legal das Startups (LC 182/2021) applies to companies organized under Brazilian law that meet the legal definition of startup — regardless of whether the founders are Brazilian or foreign. It enables structures such as the recognized investor (investidor-anjo), simplified compliance, and government-procurement carve-outs that benefit foreign-founded Brazilian startups.
If you are evaluating market entry, structuring foreign capital, registering IP, negotiating a cross-border contract, or auditing a Brazilian acquisition — let's talk. The first conversation is to understand your move; no preset agenda.
