Brazil Securities Commission imposes BRL 210000 fine for unauthorized portfolio management and postpones CABOPREV fraud case

The Brazil Securities Commission held an enforcement judgment session covering two administrative sanctioning cases. It unanimously fined Eduardo Garcia de Souza BRL 210,000 for the unauthorized conduct of securities portfolio management activities. In a separate case involving alleged fraudulent transactions tied to investments of CABOPREV resources, the board granted a defense request to remove the matter from the agenda so new evidence and testimony already filed in the record can be reviewed. The postponed case concerns Bittenpar Participações S.A., José Barbosa Machado Neto, GF Participações Ltda., Fernanda Ferraz Braga de Lima de Freitas, Gabriel Paulo Gouveia de Freitas Junior, Fabrício Fernandes da Silva, Anísio Mendes, Marco Aurélio Carvalho das Neves and Gean Iamarque Izídio de Lima, identified as members of the executive board of Petróleo Brasileiro S.A., in an investigation into an alleged fraudulent operation involving assets of the municipal public pension regime of Cabo de Santo Agostinho. The board adjourned the hearing after the defense raised a procedural request for the rapporteur to examine new evidence, including testimony made available in the proceeding. In the other case, the violation found against Eduardo Garcia de Souza was under Article 2 of CVM Resolution 21 read with Article 23 of Law 6.385/76. The CABOPREV-related judgment will return to the board's agenda at a later date. Eduardo Garcia de Souza may appeal the fine to the National Financial System Appeals Council, with suspensive effect.