STF sets 20-day deadline for submission of an emergency plan to restructure the CVM

Justice of the Federal Supreme Court (“STF”) Flávio Dino granted, on May 5, 2026, a preliminary injunction ordering the Federal Government to submit, within 20 days, an emergency operational plan for the restructuring of the supervisory activities of the Brazilian Securities and Exchange Commission (“CVM”), with reference to the 2026 [1] fiscal year.

The decision, signed following a public hearing held at the STF, was rendered in an action filed by Partido Novo in March 2025, challenging the system for allocating the funds collected under the Securities Market Supervisory Fee (“Supervisory Fee”), particularly following the amendments introduced by Law No. 14,317, dated March 29, 2022.

In the reasoning, the Justice noted that the CVM is experiencing a state of “institutional atrophy”, characterized by budget cuts and an insufficient workforce, which has been enabling the proliferation of multi-billion-real fraud schemes with the potential to destabilize the system, as illustrated by the Banco Master case. The decision also takes into account the significant expansion of the Brazilian capital markets in recent years, which have surpassed the mark of BRL 50 trillion in regulated assets.[2]

The main points of the decision are summarized below.

Emergency Operational Plan

The Federal Government must submit, within 20 days from the date of the decision, an emergency operational plan for the 2026 fiscal year, containing targets, projected investments, concrete actions, and expected results for the period, as well as practical measures such as the organization of task forces for extraordinary supervisory actions and the adjudication of proceedings. According to the decision, the plan must observe four pillars: (i) intensive punitive enforcement and procedural celerity; (ii) workforce rebuilding and technological integration; (iii) financial intelligence and interinstitutional cooperation; and (iv) preventive supervision of the investment fund industry, avoiding “gray areas”.

Recomposition of the CVM Board of Commissioners

Within the same timeframe, the Federal Government must address the shortage of members on the CVM’s board of commissioners and report on the mitigating measures contemplated to prevent harm to adjudicative proceedings until a definitive solution to the matter is reached. Pursuant to Law No. 6,385, dated December 7, 1976, the CVM is administered by a chairperson and four commissioners, appointed by the President of the Republic and confirmed by the Federal Senate, for five-year terms, with no possibility of reappointment and with one fifth of the board renewed annually. The regulator currently has only three members: João Accioly, serving as interim chairperson; Marina Palma Copola de Carvalho, as commissioner; and Thiago Paiva Chaves, as alternate commissioner.

Allocation of Funds Collected through the Supervisory Fee

The STF held that the Federal Government may not retain the funds collected through the Supervisory Fee, and that the CVM must receive the full amount collected, subject only to the constitutional deduction arising from the Disconnection of Federal Revenues (in portuguese, “DRU”), in order to ensure that such funds are allocated to the specific purpose that justifies the imposition of the said fee.

The Supervisory Fee varies according to the net equity of the contributing financial institution, with amounts ranging from approximately BRL 500,000 to BRL 600,000. As recorded in the decision, in 2025 the regulator collected approximately BRL 1.1 billion, whereas its corresponding budget appropriation was approximately BRL 234 million (the lowest level in the 2023–2025 three-year period), with approximately BRL 198 million allocated to mandatory expenditures and only BRL 36 million to discretionary expenditures, leaving a surplus of approximately BRL 831 million retained by the National Treasury. In the period from 2022 to 2024, as indicated in the initial petition, the regulator reportedly collected BRL 2.4 billion, of which BRL 2.1 billion derived from the Supervisory Fee, in contrast to a budget of BRL 670 million during the same period.

Supplementary Medium Term-Plan

In addition to the emergency operational plan, the Federal Government must formulate a Supplementary Medium-Term Plan, containing the guidelines, investments, and projections for the 2027 fiscal year and subsequent years. The said supplementary plan must be submitted within a maximum period of 90 days from the date of the decision.

[1] Available at: https://noticias.stf.jus.br/postsnoticias/stf-assegura-a-cvm-aumento-na-destinacao-de-recursos-da-taxa-de-fiscalizacao-do-mercado-de-capitais/?utm_source=chatgpt.com. Accessed on May 14, 2026.

Brazilian Federal Supreme Court, Direct Action of Unconstitutionality No 7.791/DF, single justice decision, Reporting Justice;. Flávio Dino,decided on. May 5, 2026. 05.05.2026. Available at: https://portal.stf.jus.br/processos/downloadPeca.asp?id=15386733156&ext=.pdf. Accessed on May 14, 2026.