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Banks and foreign banks in Brazil: licensing, minimum capital and deposit guarantee

Last verified: 2026-10-27 · Status: Changing

Any business that lends, takes deposits or otherwise acts as a financial institution in Brazil needs prior Central Bank authorization, and running one without it is a crime. Foreign banks enter by opening a branch or by buying into a Brazilian institution, each needing a Central Bank recognition of national interest under a 2019 decree. Since November 2025 minimum capital is computed from the activities an institution performs, with an extra R$30 million for any institution that uses the word bank, phased in for existing institutions through 2027.

USD figures use the Banco Central do Brasil PTAX selling rate of R$5.3346 per US dollar for 27 October 2026. Conversions are for orientation only.

Key facts

Prior Central Bank authorization to operate a financial institution	Yes Lei nº 4.595 art. 18, as of 2026-10-27 · in force
Foreign bank branches and foreign stakes in local banks	Allowed with Central Bank recognition of national interest Decreto nº 10.029/2019 art. 1, as of 2026-10-27 · in force
Additional minimum capital for institutions using the word bank	30000000 BRLResolução Conjunta nº 14/2025 art. 11, as of 2026-10-27 · in force
Cost portion per category of operational activity	2000000 BRLResolução Conjunta nº 14/2025 art. 9 I, as of 2026-10-27 · in force
Funding factor applied when the institution takes deposits	200 %Resolução Conjunta nº 14/2025 art. 10 § 2 III d, as of 2026-10-27 · in force
Deposit guarantee (FGC) per person per institution or conglomerate	250000 BRLResolução nº 4.222/2013 Annex II art. 2 § 3, as of 2026-10-27 · in force
Prison term for operating a financial institution without authorization	1 to 4 yearsLei nº 7.492 art. 16, as of 2026-10-27 · in force

The rule

1. Financial institutions may only operate in Brazil with prior authorization from the Central Bank, or by decree of the Executive when they are foreign. The law extends its rules to stock exchanges, insurers and anyone who carries on activities related to buying and selling securities or other activities of financial institutions, permanently or occasionally.
Cost to do it: No statutory filing fee in the law; the real costs are the minimum capital under Resolução Conjunta nº 14 and the governance, risk and technology structure the Central Bank reviews.Lei nº 4.595 of 31 December 1964 (National Financial System), Art. 18 caput and § 1, 1964-12-31 official text · verified 2026-10-27

2. The Central Bank may recognize as being in the interest of the Brazilian Government both the opening of new branches of financial institutions domiciled abroad and increases in the stake of foreign individuals or companies in financial institutions headquartered in Brazil. Recognition depends on requirements set by the CMN and the Central Bank, which must adopt, where applicable, the same conditions as for residents.
Cost to do it: No separate fee in the decree; the recognition is handled inside the Central Bank authorization process.Decreto nº 10.029 of 26 September 2019 (under ADCT art. 52 sole paragraph), Art. 1 caput, items I and II, §§ 1 and 2, 2019-09-26 official text · verified 2026-10-27

3. Central Bank authorization is needed to start operating, to transfer or change control, for mergers, spin offs and incorporations, and for other corporate events listed in the rule. Requirements include the economic and financial capacity of the controllers, lawful origin of the capital, economic viability of the business plan, information technology and governance compatible with the risks, and the clean reputation and technical capacity of controllers and managers. The Central Bank publishes the names of proposed controllers and managers so the public can object.Resolução CMN nº 4.970 of 25 November 2021, as amended, Arts. 2, 3, 7, 12 and 13, 2021-11-25 official text · verified 2026-10-27

4. Minimum paid in capital and net equity are computed as the sum of a cost portion and an activities portion. The cost portion is R$2,000,000 per category of operational activity notified to the Central Bank plus R$5,000,000 if the institution provides services depending on data processing, storage, networks and cyber security (50 percent more per additional service, capped at R$10,000,000). The activities portion adds R$1,000,000 for services, R$3,000,000 for custody and third party asset administration, R$5,000,000 for intermediation and R$7,000,000 for lending, plus R$5,000,000 (restricted) or R$8,000,000 (free) for the investment category, and multiplies the total by a funding factor: 60 percent for own funds, 80 percent for institutional funding, 120 percent for funding from the public other than deposits and 200 percent for deposits. Institutions allowed to use the word bank, or any term suggesting it, add R$30,000,000.
Cost to do it: Illustrative: a lender with one lending category, a technology services add on, restricted investments and institutional funding needs R$16,600,000 (US$3,111,761); with bank in its name, R$46,600,000 (US$8,735,425).Resolução Conjunta BCB/CMN nº 14 of 3 November 2025, as amended by Resolução Conjunta nº 19 of 23 April 2026, Arts. 2, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11, 2025-11-03 official text · verified 2026-10-27 · changed: Replaced the fixed minimum capital tables (for example Resolução CMN nº 2.099 of 1994, revoked from 1 September 2025, and the fixed amounts in rules such as Resolução CMN nº 5.237 and nº 5.050) with an activity based formula published 3 November 2025.

5. Institutions already operating keep their old minimum until 30 June 2026, then must add 25 percent of the positive gap between the new and the old minimum until 31 December 2026, 50 percent until 30 June 2027 and 75 percent until 31 December 2027, reaching the full new amount after that. They had to report their categories of activity to the Central Bank by 30 June 2026.Resolução Conjunta BCB/CMN nº 14 of 3 November 2025, Art. 12, items I and II and § 1, 2025-11-03 official text · verified 2026-10-27

6. Running a financial institution, including a securities distributor or an FX dealer, without authorization or with authorization obtained through false statements is a crime punished with 1 to 4 years of imprisonment and a fine.Lei nº 7.492 of 16 June 1986 (crimes against the National Financial System), Art. 16, 1986-06-16 official text · verified 2026-10-27

7. Financial institutions must keep their lending and funding operations and services confidential. Breaching bank secrecy outside the cases the law allows is a crime punished with 1 to 4 years of imprisonment and a fine.Lei Complementar nº 105 of 10 January 2001, Art. 1 caput; art. 10, 2001-01-10 official text · verified 2026-10-27

8. The deposit guarantee fund (FGC) covers, among others, demand, savings and time deposits, bills of exchange, real estate and agribusiness credit notes (LCI and LCA), up to R$250,000 per person against the same institution or all institutions of the same financial conglomerate. Funds raised abroad, judicial deposits, subordinated instruments and investment fund quotas are not covered.
Example: A company with R$400,000 in time deposits at one banking group is covered for R$250,000; the other R$150,000 is an unsecured claim. / Coverage of US$46,864 against exposure of US$74,982.Resolução nº 4.222 of 23 May 2013 (FGC statute and regulation), Annex II, as amended, Annex II, art. 2 caput and §§ 1 to 3, 2013-05-23 official text · verified 2026-10-27

Component	Amount or factor
Cost portion per operational category	R$2,000,000
Technology services add on	R$5,000,000 (plus 50 percent per extra service, cap R$10,000,000)
Operational category: services	R$1,000,000
Operational category: custody and administration	R$3,000,000
Operational category: intermediation	R$5,000,000
Operational category: lending	R$7,000,000
Investment category: restricted or free	R$5,000,000 or R$8,000,000
Funding factor: own funds, institutional, public non deposit, deposits	60%, 80%, 120%, 200%
Bank in the name	plus R$30,000,000

Minimum capital building blocks (Resolução Conjunta nº 14/2025 arts. 9 and 10)

Worked example

Illustrative minimum capital. A new credit company grants loans (lending category), runs its own cloud stack (technology add on), invests only as its rules allow (restricted) and funds itself by assigning receivables (institutional, factor 80 percent). Cost portion: R$2,000,000 plus R$5,000,000. Activities portion: (R$7,000,000 plus R$5,000,000) times 80 percent, R$9,600,000. Minimum capital: R$16,600,000 (US$3,111,761). If it also took deposits the factor would be 200 percent and the activities portion would rise to R$24,000,000. The Central Bank defines the final categories, so treat this as a sizing estimate (Resolução Conjunta nº 14/2025 arts. 8 to 10).

Step by step

1. Decide whether you really need a license: intercompany loans from abroad, cross border lending to Brazilian companies and payment services may sit under other regimes (see FX and fintech pages).
2. Choose the vehicle: a Brazilian S.A. subsidiary (most common) or a branch of the foreign bank; both need Central Bank recognition of national interest for foreign capital (Decreto nº 10.029/2019).
3. Size capital with the Resolução Conjunta nº 14/2025 formula for every activity you plan, including technology services.
4. Prepare the authorization file: controllers' financial capacity and source of funds, business plan, governance, risk, IT and the managers' fit and proper evidence (Resolução CMN nº 4.970/2021 art. 2).
5. Expect public notice of proposed controllers and managers before approval (art. 7), then incorporate, pay in capital and start only after authorization.
6. After launch, keep capital above the minimum at all times and seek approval before changing control.

Common traps

Starting first and licensing later. Operating as a financial institution without authorization is a crime (Lei nº 7.492 art. 16), and the Lei nº 4.595 net covers occasional activity too (art. 18 § 1).
Using bank in the brand. Any institution whose name suggests bank, in any language, must add R$30,000,000 to its minimum capital (Resolução Conjunta nº 14/2025 art. 11).
Reading old capital tables. Fixed amounts in older rules, such as R$7,000,000 in Resolução CMN nº 5.237 or R$1,000,000 for direct credit companies, were revoked by Resolução Conjunta nº 14/2025; the Central Bank pages still show the superseded text next to the revocation note.
Assuming the FGC protects corporate treasuries. Coverage is R$250,000 per person per conglomerate, so large balances are mostly unsecured (Resolução nº 4.222 Annex II art. 2 § 3).

Sources

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