After a short public hearing, the Brazilian Financial and Capital Markets Association (ANBIMA) published, on 02.03.2022, the new version of its Certification Code, which brings additional burdens mainly to the managers of Participation Investment Funds (FIP), which were not subject to such Code.
As a general rule, all professionals of the manager who are part of the manager's internal investment committee or specific investment committee of a FIP (that committee provided for in the regulations), as well as all persons who work in the management activity and have authority / discretionary power of investment (purchase and sale) of the assets of the FIP should obtain the CGE certification.
The adaptation periods, starting from 02.03.2022, when the Code enters into force, are as follows:
- within 12 months (until 02.03.2023): 50% of management professionals must be certified;
- within 24 months (until 02.03.2024): 100% of management professionals must be certified.
Having said this, ANBIMA allows a request for exemption from taking the CGE examination for people who meet certain requirements, of which we highlight:
- domicile in Brazil;
- graduation in higher education;
- unblemished reputation;
- more than 7 years of professional experience in asset management, with discretionary authority/ power of investment (buying and selling) of assets that make up the portfolio of structured funds, with this experience having to be proven over the last 10 years.
The counting of the experience shall observe criteria specified by the Association, e.g. experience acquired abroad and experience as a professional responsible for the treasury area in financial institutions.
In general terms, the requirements are similar to those required by CVM for the authorisation of individual managers without a certification examination.
The professional who obtains the exemption of taking the examination of certifications shall be automatically exempted from taking the GTC examination.
. It is important to emphasize that the analysis is at the discretion of ANBIMA, which shall be the final decision maker.
In view of the above, we recommend that the FIP managers take steps to comply with the Certification Code, preparing for the CGE certification examination or, if applicable, requesting the waiver mentioned above.
In addition, during the 6-month period starting from March 2, 2022, ANBIMA shall accept the addition of professional experience accumulated with Participating Institutions, provided that this experience corresponds to the management of FIP funds.
It is recommended to take advantage of this opportunity.
Our Capital Markets team is at your disposal for further clarification and advice on any requests for waivers.
The Certification Code and the Rules and Procedures for Waiver of Examinations are available at the following link.
