Countries › Brazil › Guide › 5. FX and capital controls › Reporting foreign direct investment to the Central Bank (SCE-IED): thresholds, deadlines and periodic declarations

Reporting foreign direct investment to the Central Bank (SCE-IED): thresholds, deadlines and periodic declarations

Argentina. For full detail on Argentina, go to The Argentine Thread.

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

Foreign direct investment in Brazil is free and needs no approval, but the Brazilian company receiving it must report it to the Central Bank in the SCE-IED system. Transfers of US$100,000 or more are captured from the FX contract; capitalizations, dividends paid without an FX contract and similar movements must be declared within 30 days. Companies with foreign shareholders also file periodic declarations: every five years from R$100,000 of assets, yearly from R$100 million and quarterly from R$300 million.

USD figures use the Banco Central do Brasil PTAX selling rate of R$5.5007 per US dollar for 26 October 2026, the last rate published before verification. Conversions are for orientation only; the rate on the day of each FX contract will differ.

Key facts

Transfer amount that triggers SCE-IED reporting	100000 USDResolução BCB nº 278 art. 32 I, as of 2026-10-27 · in force
Prior approval for foreign direct investment	No, free with reporting Resolução BCB nº 278 art. 15, as of 2026-10-27 · in force
Total assets requiring quarterly SCE-IED declarations	300000000 BRLResolução BCB nº 278 art. 38, as of 2026-10-27 · in force
Total assets requiring the annual SCE-IED declaration	100000000 BRLResolução BCB nº 278 art. 39, as of 2026-10-27 · in force
Total assets requiring the five year SCE-IED declaration	100000 BRLResolução BCB nº 278 art. 40, as of 2026-10-27 · in force
Deadline to declare movements without an FX contract	30 daysResolução BCB nº 278 art. 36, as of 2026-10-27 · in force
Retention of FDI supporting documents after the stake ends	10 yearsResolução BCB nº 278 art. 4, as of 2026-10-27 · in force
Banco Central do Brasil PTAX selling rate, reais per US dollar	5.5007 BRLBanco Central do Brasil PTAX, as of 2026-10-26 · in force

The rule

1. Foreign capital receives the same legal treatment as national capital on equal conditions.Lei nº 14.286, Art. 9, 2021-12-29 official text · verified 2026-10-27

2. Foreign direct investment, its transfers and related movements are free, subject to specific legislation and the economic rationale of the operation. Supporting documents must be kept for ten years after the investor's stake ends, and the Central Bank may ask for them.Resolução BCB nº 278, Art. 4 sole paragraph; art. 15, 2022-12-31 official text · verified 2026-10-27

3. The Brazilian company receiving the investment (the receptor) is responsible for reporting. It answers for the economic rationale and legality of the operation and the truth of what it declares, and may appoint an attorney in fact, including its bank, to file.
Cost to do it: No Central Bank fee; the cost is the filer's or adviser's time.Resolução BCB nº 278, art. 17 as worded by Resolução BCB nº 348 of 17 October 2023, Arts. 17, 18 § 1 and 20, 2022-12-31 official text · verified 2026-10-27

4. Reporting is required when a transfer linked to a non resident investor is US$100,000 or more; when a movement listed in art. 36 is US$100,000 or more; or on the base date of the periodic declarations. Transfers and movements in securities traded on organized markets are excluded. The receptor and the investor must be identified before the first transfer so the system can generate the SCE-IED code, which must appear on FX contracts of US$100,000 or more.
Example: A capital injection of US$150,000 (R$825,105) needs the SCE-IED code on the FX contract; one of US$80,000 does not trigger reporting on its own. / US$100,000 threshold per transfer.Resolução BCB nº 278, as amended by Resolução BCB nº 348/2023, Arts. 21 II, 32 and 34 § 1, 2023-10-17 official text · verified 2026-10-27

5. Money coming in and remittances of profits, dividends, JCP and return of capital through FX contracts are captured automatically. Within 30 days the receptor must declare movements without an FX contract: capitalization with tangible, intangible or virtual assets; conversion into investment of amounts remittable abroad not reported as external credit; international contribution of shares; and distributions, JCP, acquisitions from or sales to residents, capital returns, liquidation proceeds and capitalizations made abroad or in reais in Brazil.Resolução BCB nº 278, as amended by Resoluções BCB nº 348/2023 and 410/2024, Arts. 35 and 36, 2024-09-11 official text · verified 2026-10-27 · changed: Resolução BCB nº 410 of 11 September 2024 widened art. 36 VI from 1 October 2024 and repealed the reporting of share swaps between investors and corporate reorganizations as separate items; the 30 day declarations became due from 1 October 2024 (art. 42).

6. Periodic declarations: quarterly for receptors with total assets of R$300,000,000 or more on the base date (31 March, 30 June, 30 September); annual for receptors with total assets of R$100,000,000 or more on 31 December of the prior year; and every five years (base dates 31 December of years ending in 0 or 5) for receptors with total assets of R$100,000 or more. There is no annual declaration in a five year declaration year. They cover ownership structure, book and economic value, operating and non operating profit and complementary accounting data.
Example: A subsidiary with R$150,000,000 of total assets at 31 December 2025 files an annual declaration between 1 January and 31 March 2027 for base date 31 December 2026, unless that year is a five year declaration year. / R$300,000,000 is about US$54,538,513; R$100,000,000 about US$18,179,504; R$100,000 about US$18,180.Resolução BCB nº 278, Arts. 37, 38, 39 and 40, 2022-12-31 official text · verified 2026-10-27 · changed: The annual declaration of art. 39 came into force on 10 February 2025 (art. 46 I as worded by Resolução BCB nº 348/2023); before, annual data were collected through the Census of Foreign Capital.

7. Deadlines: quarterly declarations from 1 April to 30 June (base 31 March), 1 July to 30 September (base 30 June) and 1 October to 31 December (base 30 September); annual and five year declarations from 1 January to 31 March of the following year.Resolução BCB nº 278, Art. 41, 2022-12-31 official text · verified 2026-10-27

8. Conversions between direct investment and external credit, and vice versa, must be reported in SCE-Crédito within 30 days.Resolução BCB nº 278, art. 25-A as worded by Resolução BCB nº 492 of 14 August 2025, Art. 25-A, 2025-08-14 official text · verified 2026-10-27 · changed: From 1 October 2025 the 30 day rule also covers conversions between direct investment and external credit.

9. Failure to report can lead to a ban on transfers related to the operation until the irregularity is fixed, in addition to penalties. For breaches of the Central Bank's information rules, the available penalties are fines and bans on certain activities or operations.
Cost to do it: Blocked remittances until the record is fixed, plus possible fines.Resolução BCB nº 278 art. 22; Lei nº 14.286 arts. 10 and 20; Lei nº 13.506 art. 5, Res. 278 art. 22; Lei 14.286 art. 20 sole paragraph, 2021-12-29 official text · verified 2026-10-27

Declaration	Who files	Base date	Filing window
Quarterly	Total assets of R$300 million or more on the base date	31 March, 30 June, 30 September	The following quarter (1 April to 30 June, 1 July to 30 September, 1 October to 31 December)
Annual	Total assets of R$100 million or more on 31 December of the prior year	31 December	1 January to 31 March
Five year	Total assets of R$100,000 or more on 31 December of the prior year	31 December of years ending in 0 or 5	1 January to 31 March

SCE-IED periodic declarations (Resolução BCB nº 278 arts. 38 to 41).

Worked example

A foreign group capitalizes its Brazilian subsidiary with US$500,000 in cash (R$2,750,350) and with machinery imported without payment. The cash comes in through an FX contract that carries the SCE-IED code and is captured automatically (Resolução BCB nº 278 arts. 21 and 35). The machinery capitalization must be declared within 30 days (art. 36 I). The 2025 base date is a five year year, so a subsidiary with R$100,000 or more of assets filed its five year declaration between 1 January and 31 March 2026 (arts. 40 and 41).
If the subsidiary later pays a R$2,000,000 dividend into the parent's account abroad directly in reais in Brazil, about US$363,590, it is over US$100,000 and must be declared within 30 days (art. 36 VI).

Step by step

1. Get CNPJ registration for the foreign investor and its legal representative in Brazil before the first transfer (see Start here).
2. Identify the receptor and the investor in SCE-IED before the first transfer so the system issues the SCE-IED code (Resolução BCB nº 278 art. 34 § 1).
3. Give the SCE-IED code to the bank for every FX contract of US$100,000 or more (art. 21 II).
4. Declare within 30 days any capitalization, dividend, JCP, capital return or share transfer to or from residents done without an FX contract, if US$100,000 or more (art. 36).
5. Diarize the periodic declarations by asset size: quarterly, annual or five year (arts. 38 to 41).
6. Keep documents for ten years after the investor exits (art. 4).

Common traps

Thinking a small company has nothing to file. Any receptor with total assets of R$100,000 or more files the five year declaration, even if it never makes a transfer of US$100,000 (Resolução BCB nº 278 art. 40).
Forgetting non FX movements. Dividends paid abroad, capitalized profits and contributions of assets are not captured automatically and must be declared within 30 days (art. 36).
Missing the code on the FX contract. A remittance of US$100,000 or more without the SCE-IED code is not linked to the investment, and unfixed records can block later transfers (arts. 21 and 22).
Using old registration habits. The old Lei nº 4.131 registration certificate no longer exists; the obligation is now reporting by the receptor under Lei nº 14.286 and Resolução BCB nº 278.

Sources

Related: Brazil country profile · live dashboard · central bank and release calendar · our posts on X · where Argentina is involved, see The Argentine Thread guide

← Brazil's FX market: who can trade, how the rate is set, PTAX and the rules every FX contract followsForeign loans into Brazil: SCE-Crédito reporting, IOF by term, prepayment and intercompany funding →