Brazilian Lawmakers Discuss Bill to Enhance Protection for Debtors’ Savings, Contemplating Inclusion of Cryptocurrency
Legislators in Brazil are debating a bill that would provide robust protection to a substantial portion of debtors’ savings assets. At the same time, a separate initiative seeks to include cryptocurrency in the bill’s latest iteration.
The Constitution, Justice, and Citizenship Committee of the lower chamber of the Brazilian Parliament is reviewing bill number 4.420/2021, which delegate Carlos Bezerra authored.
The 2015 amendment to the Code of Civil Procedure seeks to protect the private savings of individuals up to the equivalent of forty minimum wages from potential seizure by their creditors.
On September 15, the bill’s rapporteur, Deputy Felipe Francischini, formally endorsed a recent amendment proposal from another Deputy, Fernando Marangoni, to include crypto assets in the list of protected funds. According to the note by Francischini:
“Nowadays, people’s investment behavior changed, with the traditional savings account losing ground to other forms of financial investment.”
After the Brazilian crypto framework took effect in June 2023, such incorporation became feasible. The current amendment references this framework and defines virtual assets as “digital representations of value that can be traded or transferred via electronic means and used for making payments or investments.”
Brazil has an opposing viewpoint regarding recognizing cryptocurrencies as actual currency. A congressional committee approved amendments to a bill in August that would increase taxes on cryptocurrencies held abroad.
