Jurisdictions your role covers: Brazil and USA

What are the most significant cases or transactions that your legal team has recently been involved in?

As General Counsel for Avenue, my team’s core mission is navigating the cross-border legal and regulatory complexity between the U.S. and Brazil to make international investing accessible for Brazilians.

Much of last year centered on our landmark M&A transaction: the second closing with Itaú, successfully completed in January 2026, which established Itaú as our controlling shareholder. This was a defining moment for Avenue and an intense one for legal. We managed intricate regulatory approvals on both sides of the border, coordinated across multiple jurisdictions, and kept everything aligned under tight timelines. It required the team to be sharp, strategic, and deeply collaborative.

At the same time, we’ve been at the forefront of Brazil’s rapidly evolving regulatory landscape, including the Brazilian Central Bank’s new stablecoin regulations. Staying ahead of these shifts isn’t just compliance work; it’s what allows us to launch innovative products with confidence, meeting the expectations of both Brazilian and U.S. regulators.

What new pressures are you facing from the business as expectations for legal to act as a strategic partner continue to grow?

The biggest pressure is speed. We’re a tech-driven platform operating across borders in the financial market, and the business expects legal to keep pace, delivering sharp, practical guidance without becoming a bottleneck. Being an enabler, not a blocker, demands a constant shift in mindset.

Layered on top of that is the challenge of navigating regulatory complexity in two jurisdictions simultaneously. Knowing the rules isn’t enough anymore because the business expects us to anticipate what’s coming and flag risks before they land.

And increasingly, there’s a push to use legal tech and data analytics to work smarter and advise more strategically. That’s a challenge we embrace and it pushes us to be better.

What strategies has your legal team adopted to manage disputes and mitigate risks in Brazil’s dynamic business environment?

Our approach really comes down to one core reality: we operate in two countries simultaneously, so we have to play by two sets of rules at the same time. That shapes everything.

On prevention, we keep a close eye on Brazil’s CVM and Central Bank alongside the SEC and FINRA. When regulations are moving in potentially conflicting directions, we want to catch that early — well before it becomes a problem. Our contracts are also drafted to be legally resilient in both jurisdictions, with careful attention to jurisdiction clauses and choice-of-law provisions to avoid cross-border enforcement headaches.

When disputes do arise, we bring in counsel who genuinely understand both systems, not just one side of the border.