Integrity Strategies Against Professionalized Organized Crime. The systemic impact of organized criminal organizations on Brazil’s formal economy, estimated at BRL 350 billion between 2022 and 2024 according to the Brazilian Public Security Forum (Source: ICC Guide), requires the private sector to adopt compliance as a strategic protection tool. Organized crime no longer seeks merely to remain concealed; it increasingly pursues economic integration into legitimate businesses through fintechs, virtual assets (regulated under Law No. 14,478/2022), private equity structures, and M&A transactions.
1. The “Integrity Systems” Model. Moving beyond the static view of compliance manuals, the concept of “integrity systems” advocated by the ICC Guide proposes a dynamic framework encompassing all company units. Countering criminal infiltration requires operational areas, such as logistics and payments, to be integrated into risk-monitoring processes. The effectiveness of such a system depends on support from senior management (tone from the top), as provided for under Article 57, Item I, of Decree No. 11,129/2022, as well as on the operational independence of the compliance function from the business areas it oversees.
2. Third-Party Due Diligence and Red Flags. The ICC Guide emphasizes that due diligence should be proportionate to geographic and sector-specific risks. Money laundering linked to organized crime generally follows the stages of placement, concealment, and integration. In accordance with AML/CFT guidelines, companies should remain alert to objective risk indicators:
- Structural Indicators: Frequent changes in corporate control without a clear economic rationale; Concealed ultimate beneficial owners; Shareholders whose financial capacity is inconsistent with the company’s revenue.
- Financial Indicators: Excessive use of cash transactions; Circular flows of funds (smurfing); Requests to redirect payments to third-party bank accounts.
- Operational Indicators: Physical infrastructure inconsistent with reported revenue, including headquarters located at predominantly residential addresses; Unusual pressure based on alleged “operational urgency.”
3. Incident Management and Reporting to Authorities. The identification of signs of criminal infiltration should follow an escalation process that preserves the chain of custody of information. External reporting to authorities such as the Federal Police or COAF (Brazil’s Financial Intelligence Unit) should be preceded by a technical assessment considering the severity and urgency of the matter. Internal assessments should distinguish between verifiable facts (documents), objective indicators (atypical patterns), and analytical hypotheses in order to avoid decision-making paralysis. Escalation should be immediate in cases involving coercion or extortion of employees.
- Reporting Channels: Reporting suspicious transactions to COAF is a legal obligation under Article 11 of Law No. 9,613/1998; non-compliance may subject institutions to the administrative sanctions set forth in Article 12. Financial crimes should be reported to the Federal Police. Irregularities involving the securities market should be reported to the Brazilian Securities and Exchange Commission (CVM). The CGU’s Fala.BR platform is primarily intended for cases involving federal public officials.
Updates to Brazilian Legislation. Brazil has been strengthening its regulatory framework to combat the infiltration of organized crime into the formal economy, shifting the focus from purely criminal enforcement toward mechanisms involving financial intelligence, asset tracing, and accountability for economic actors who facilitate or permit illicit activities.
Law No. 12,850/2013 (the Organized Crime Act) had already established important investigative, cooperation, and asset-recovery tools. More recently, Law No. 15,358/2026 (the Legal Framework for Combating Organized Crime) expanded this approach by creating new criminal offenses, strengthening asset forfeiture and confiscation mechanisms, establishing specialized databases, and implementing measures designed to combat criminal structures seeking to exert economic, territorial, or institutional influence.
In parallel, Law No. 15,397/2026 introduced stricter treatment of property-related crimes and expressly criminalized the use of “straw accounts” (laranja accounts) for the circulation of funds derived from criminal activities or intended to finance illicit operations.
Taken together, these initiatives demonstrate a legislative trend toward holding accountable not only members of criminal organizations but also intermediaries, facilitators, and corporate structures used for asset concealment, money laundering, or the insertion of illicit funds into the formal economy. This development further increases the importance of compliance programs, internal controls, ultimate beneficial ownership identification, transaction monitoring, and due diligence procedures involving customers and counterparties.
For financial institutions and capital markets participants, the strengthened legal framework heightens regulatory expectations regarding the implementation of effective mechanisms for anti-money laundering compliance, detection of nominee or straw-person arrangements, identification of ultimate beneficial owners (UBOs), and monitoring of transactions potentially linked to organized criminal organizations. Failure to do so may result in administrative, civil, regulatory, and reputational consequences.
Effectively countering the infiltration of organized criminal organizations into the formal economy requires corporations to adopt dynamic and resilient integrity systems—structures that integrate operational departments and senior management into the continuous monitoring of red flags and prevent the silent capture of legitimate business structures. Implementing robust AML/CFT mechanisms, conducting thorough due diligence on ultimate beneficial owners (UBOs), and maintaining compliance with the regulatory frameworks issued by the Central Bank of Brazil and the CVM, pursuant to Law No. 9,613/1998 and Decree No. 11,129/2022, are strategic pillars of institutional sustainability and legal certainty in complex transactions involving agribusiness, trade finance, derivatives, virtual assets, and foreign exchange operations.
In the next edition, we will discuss penalties and other consequences applicable in cases of non-compliance with compliance obligations.
References
BRAZIL. Office of the Comptroller General (CGU). Guide for Companies on Managing Risks Associated with Criminal Organizations. Brasília, DF: CGU, n.d. Available at: https://www.gov.br/cgu/pt-br/assuntos/integridade-privada/materiaisdeorientacao/manuais/ICCGuiaGestaoRiscosAssociadosOrganizacoesCriminosasEmpresas.pdf. Accessed on: June 3, 2026.
BRAZIL. Decree No. 11,129, of July 11, 2022. Regulates Law No. 12,846 of August 1, 2013, concerning the administrative and civil liability of legal entities for acts committed against the Brazilian or foreign public administration. Official Gazette of the Union (Diário Oficial da União), Section 1, Brasília, DF, July 12, 2022. Available at: https://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/_ato2019-2022/2022/decreto/d11129.htm. Accessed on: June 3, 2026.
BRAZIL. Law No. 9,613, of March 3, 1998. Provides for the crimes of money laundering or concealment of assets, rights, and values; the prevention of the use of the financial system for the unlawful acts provided for in this Law; establishes the Financial Activities Control Council (COAF); and provides other measures. Official Gazette of the Union (Diário Oficial da União), Brasília, DF, March 4, 1998. Available at: https://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/leis/l9613.htm. Accessed on: June 9, 2026.
BRAZIL. Law No. 12,850, of August 2, 2013. Defines criminal organizations and provides for criminal investigations, evidentiary measures, related criminal offenses, and criminal procedure; amends Decree-Law No. 2,848 of December 7, 1940 (Brazilian Criminal Code); repeals Law No. 9,034 of May 3, 1995; and provides other measures. Brasília, DF: Presidency of the Republic, 2013. Available at: https://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/_ato2011-2014/2013/lei/l12850.htm. Accessed on: June 9, 2026.
BRAZIL. Law No. 15,358, of March 24, 2026. Establishes the Legal Framework for Combating Organized Crime in Brazil (Raul Jungmann Act); criminalizes the offenses of structured social domination and facilitation of structured social domination; and amends the Brazilian Criminal Code, the Brazilian Code of Criminal Procedure, and related legislation. Brasília, DF: Presidency of the Republic, 2026. Available at: https://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/_ato2023-2026/2026/lei/l15358.htm. Accessed on: June 9, 2026.
BRAZIL. Law No. 15,397, of April 30, 2026. Amends Decree-Law No. 2,848 of December 7, 1940 (Brazilian Criminal Code) to increase the penalties applicable to the crimes of theft, robbery, fraud, receiving stolen property, receiving stolen animals, and interruption or disruption of telegraphic, telephone, information technology, telematics, or public information services, as well as to establish the criminal offenses of receiving stolen domestic animals and bank fraud. Brasília, DF: Presidency of the Republic, 2026. Available at: https://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/_ato2023-2026/2026/lei/l15397.htm. Accessed on: June 9, 2026.