Who this guide is for
This guide is for foreign individuals and companies that plan to open a company in Brazil, acquire a stake in a Brazilian business or increase an existing investment.
Besides the corporate documents and the transfer of the funds, you need to check the obligations before the Central Bank of Brazil, the authority responsible for exchange regulation and for monitoring international capital.
These obligations depend on the nature and the value of the operations and, in the periodic declarations, on the size of the Brazilian company.
Short answer. The SCE-IED is the Central Bank's system for reporting foreign capital in the form of foreign direct investment. It succeeded the old RDE-IED.
The Brazilian company that receives the investment is responsible for the information and can authorise a representative to provide it.
The regulation sets cases of reporting for transfers and movements of US$ 100,000 or more, or the equivalent in other currencies. Separately, there are periodic declarations according to the company's total assets.
The SCE-IED is an information obligation. Reporting the investment does not replace the incorporation of the company, the accounting or the analysis of the taxes.
General information as of October 2026. Confirm your case with your advisors.
What is foreign direct investment?
It is the investment of a non-resident in the capital of a Brazilian company, or in another economic right whose return depends on the results of the business.
The investor can be an individual or a company. The central point is its status as a non-resident, and not only its nationality.
Article 2, item V, of BCB Resolution 278/2022 includes in the definition the direct participation of a non-resident in the share capital of a company in Brazil.
In practice, this covers, for example, the foreign parent that contributes funds to the capital of its Brazilian subsidiary.
A loan from the parent has a different nature: it can be subject to the rules on foreign credit and to the SCE-Crédito.
Who is responsible for the declaration?
The obligation is of the Brazilian company that receives the investment.
Article 17, item II, of BCB Resolution 278/2022 identifies the recipient as responsible in the case of foreign direct investment operations.
Article 20 allows the appointment of an attorney-in-fact, that is, an authorised representative who can enter, consult and update the information. Hiring this support does not remove the recipient's responsibility for the accuracy of the data (see the text of the resolution).
So the investor, the management and the accounting need to share the documents of the operations.
When must the investment be reported?
Article 32 of BCB Resolution 278/2022 sets three main situations:
| Situation | Criterion |
|---|---|
| Financial transfer related to the non-resident investor | Amount of US$ 100,000 or more, or the equivalent. |
| Movement covered by article 36 | Amount of US$ 100,000 or more, or the equivalent. |
| Periodic declaration | The recipient falls within the asset limits of the relevant declaration. |
These are different criteria. A company can be required to file a periodic declaration even without having received a transfer of US$ 100,000.
You should also not conclude that every contribution, whatever the amount, requires the same level of detail in the system. You need to check the case that applies.
Which movements need attention?
Among the operations in article 36 are:
- Payment of capital with goods, rights or virtual assets.
- Conversion into investment of certain rights that could be remitted abroad.
- International contribution of quotas or shares.
- Certain acquisitions and sales of stakes between residents and non-residents.
- Distribution or capitalisation of profits, dividends and interest on equity.
- Return of capital and distribution of amounts on liquidation.
International contribution of quotas or shares is an operation in which corporate stakes are used to pay up capital, as defined in the regulation.
The obligation must be analysed considering the limit in article 32 and the way the movement is carried out. BCB Resolution 410/2024 changed the list in article 36, so old lists can include events that have been modified or repealed (see Resolution 410/2024).
Does everything have to be entered manually within 30 days?
No. You need to distinguish two procedures.
Financial transfers: article 35 provides for automatic capture of the information available in the Exchange System for inflows of currency and certain remittances related to the investment.
Other movements: article 36 sets a deadline of up to 30 days from the occurrence for the events subject to reporting by this procedure.
The automatic capture does not dispense with checking the identification and the consistency of the data. The investment code also needs to be organised before the operations in which it is required.
Article 34, paragraph 1, governs the prior identification of the recipient and the investor to generate the SCE-IED code.
Periodic declarations: who files?
Besides the movements, the Central Bank requires periodic information from certain recipients.
The criterion is the total accounting assets of the Brazilian company, which correspond to all its goods and rights. It is not revenue, share capital or only the foreign investment.
| Declaration | Total assets on the base date | Base date | Provision |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | R$ 300 million or more | March 31, June 30 and September 30 | Art. 38 |
| Annual | R$ 100 million or more | December 31 | Art. 39 |
| Five-yearly | R$ 100,000 or more | December 31 of years ending in 0 or 5 | Art. 40 |
The five-yearly declaration takes place every five years and can reach smaller companies.
In the years with a five-yearly declaration there is no annual declaration, under the sole paragraph of article 40. The quarterly obligations must be checked separately.
What are the deadlines?
Article 41 of BCB Resolution 278/2022 sets:
| Base date | Delivery period |
|---|---|
| Quarterly of March 31 | From April 1 to June 30 |
| Quarterly of June 30 | From July 1 to September 30 |
| Quarterly of September 30 | From October 1 to December 31 |
| Annual or five-yearly of December 31 | From January 1 to March 31 of the following year |
For example, the five-yearly declaration for December 31, 2025 had a deadline of March 31, 2026.
A company with foreign investment and R$ 500,000 of assets on that date could be required to file the five-yearly one, even though it is below the limits of the annual and quarterly declarations.
How to get access
Access and permissions need to be organised for the company and for whoever will carry out the service.
The official guidance provides for a Sisbacen login for legal entities or access through a gov.br account at the required levels, with a digital certificate according to the procedure indicated.
The gov.br is the digital identification used in Brazilian public services. The Sisbacen is the environment for access to the Central Bank's systems.
In practice, the preparation involves:
- Identify the receiving company and the investor.
- Organise the accreditation and the permissions.
- Authorise the representative, when there is one.
- Access the version of the SCE-IED that matches the period of the events.
The public service is free of charge. The fees for preparing and following the declarations are contracted separately (see the service on gov.br).
Which documents must be kept?
The documentation must allow the origin, the nature and the amounts of the investment to be checked.
Depending on the operation, this includes contracts and corporate amendments, resolutions, exchange documents, proof of payments and accounting records.
The sole paragraph of article 4 provides for keeping them for ten years from the end of the participation in the recipient's capital. Article 18, item I, letter "b", governs the keeping of the documentation of the information provided from the settlement of each investor's investment.
So the period should not be counted only from the date of the contribution.
Why does this matter for the investor?
A consistent history helps document new contributions, distributions of results, reorganisations and the future exit from the investment.
The Central Bank also provides for consequences for irregular information. Articles 19 and 22 deal with penalties and with the possibility of blocking transfers related to the operation while the irregularities are not corrected.
This makes it important to check the obligations before moving the funds, instead of trying to rebuild the history only when the parent wants to receive money. Our guide on dividends shows the tax side of that moment.
The declaration to the Central Bank and the payment of taxes are separate obligations. One does not replace the other.
Legal basis and sources
Rules and guidance used in this guide, checked in October 2026:
- BCB Resolution 278/2022: foreign direct investment reporting. Articles cited: 2 (definition), 4 and 18 (keeping documents), 17 and 20 (responsibility and attorney-in-fact), 19 and 22 (penalties), 32 (when to report), 34 (investment code), 35 and 36 (transfers and movements), 38 to 41 (periodic declarations and deadlines).
- BCB Resolution 410/2024: changes to the list of movements in article 36.
- Central Bank of Brazil, SCE-IED service on gov.br: access, accreditation and cost of the service.
How we work
Move Advisory is the consulting area of Move Online, an accounting firm in São Paulo founded in 2017.
In the diagnosis, we identify the investors, the inflows of funds and the planned movements. We check which information and declarations are required.
In the operation, we organise the documents, prepare the declarations contracted and follow their consistency with the accounting and the corporate acts. See the services page.