Canadian Lawyer InHouse

17 CANADIANLAWYERMAG.COM/INHOUSE MARCH 2016 17 CANADIANLAWYERMAG.COM/INHOUSE MARCH 2016 March 2015, the government enacted De- cree 8,420, which explains how the govern- ment and its agents should conduct anticor- ruption proceedings. Note that according to these regulations, the government will consider reducing fi nes by one to four per cent if the liable company has and applies an integrity program, including procedures to encourage people to report corruption and an auditing system to ensure that the pro- gram is actually working. All of the above matters to Canadian busi- nesses operating in Brazil. Barutciski says they may need special support. His advice: "Make sure you have somebody on board either at the senior-management level or in an advisory role who really understands the business, the culture, and the environment. That might mean hiring an accounting fi rm, a law fi rm, or a new senior executive with deep hands-on experience. You need to understand what you're getting into. Other- wise, it's hard to avoid the pitfalls." Engaging local Brazilian consultancies and law fi rms is a different prospect today than it was in the 1990s, when Barutciski fi rst started doing business in the country. Back then, local service providers "were relatively small general practitioners, people who did litigation and some corporate and commer- cial. Now you see a high degree of specializa- tion, much as you have here in Canada." Experts indicate that Brazil's new law and regulations are no common measures. De- cree 8,420 is notably specifi c, says Faass. It spells out fi nes and lays out how companies can argue to have fi nes reduced. And the act is unusually fi rm, says John Boscariol, a Mc- Carthy Tetrault LLP partner specializing in It's estimated that fi ve to 15 per cent of our GDP is consumed by corruption — meaning the Brazilian economy could be growing much faster if there were no corruption. MARIANA MOTA PRADO, University of Toronto Faculty of Law '' ''

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