Overview
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Region | Latin America |
| ISO 3166-1 | BR / BRA |
| Registry | State-level Juntas Comerciais (Boards of Trade) + Receita Federal (federal tax) |
| Last updated | 2026-05-04 |
Identifiers
Collect two identifiers from each business customer in Brazil and submit them as strings on the application body.| API field | Local name | Issuer |
|---|---|---|
businessInfo.taxId | CNPJ | Receita Federal |
businessInfo.businessEntityId | NIRE | Junta Comercial (state-level) |
Sector regulators
BCB · CVM · SUSEP · ANS · ANVISA
Legal structures
| Local name | Abbreviation | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Sociedade Anônima | S.A. | Share-capital corporation governed by Lei 6.404/1976; can be publicly or privately held. Board of directors mandatory for publicly held S.A.s. Equivalent to a US C-Corp. |
| Sociedade em Comandita por Ações | S.C.A. | Share-capital entity in which at least one managing partner (comanditado) bears unlimited liability while shareholders (comanditários) are liable only to the extent of their shares. Closest US equivalent: Limited Partnership (LP). |
| Sociedade Limitada | LTDA | Quota-based limited liability company; 2+ members (sócios) since Lei 13.874/2019 expanded single-member access via SLU. No minimum capital. The most common business vehicle in Brazil. Equivalent to a US LLC. |
| Sociedade Limitada Unipessoal | SLU | Single-member variant of the Sociedade Limitada, introduced by Lei 13.874/2019 (Art. 7); replaces the defunct EIRELI. No minimum capital. Equivalent to a US single-member LLC (SMLLC). |
| Sociedade em Nome Coletivo | SNC | General partnership in which all partners must be natural persons and bear unlimited joint and several liability for the company’s obligations. Equivalent to a US General Partnership (GP). |
| Sociedade em Comandita Simples | SCS | Limited partnership with at least one general partner (comanditado) bearing unlimited liability and one or more limited partners (comanditários) liable only for their capital contribution. Equivalent to a US Limited Partnership (LP). |
| Empresário Individual | EI | Registered sole trader (natural person); no separate legal personality and unlimited personal liability for business debts. Registered with the Junta Comercial. Equivalent to a US Sole Proprietorship. |
| Microempreendedor Individual | MEI | Micro-entrepreneur regime for self-employed individuals with annual revenue up to R$81k (indexed); simplified federal registration via Portal do Empreendedor, issues a CNPJ. Equivalent to a US Sole Proprietorship (DBA). |
| Sociedade Simples | SS | Civil-law professional partnership for intellectual or liberal activities (law, medicine, architecture); registered with the Cartório de Registro Civil de Pessoas Jurídicas, not the Junta Comercial. Partners may be jointly liable depending on the articles. Closest US equivalent: General Partnership (GP) used for professional firms. |
| Sociedade em Conta de Participação | SCP | Undisclosed (silent) partnership with no legal personality; the ostensible partner (sócio ostensivo) acts publicly while silent partners (sócios participantes) contribute capital. Must register for a CNPJ but is not filed with the Junta Comercial. Closest US equivalent: a contractual Joint Venture or Silent Partnership. |
| Sociedade Cooperativa | — | Member-owned cooperative governed by Lei 5.764/1971 and Arts. 1.093–1.096 of the Civil Code; democratic governance (one member, one vote) and no profit-maximisation purpose. Equivalent to a US Cooperative. |
How documents combine
For each evidence area, this table shows whether the listed documents are alternatives (any one of) or a bundle (all required). The artifact-by-artifact lookup follows below.| Evidence area | Documents needed |
|---|---|
| Legal Registration | All required: Cartão CNPJ + Junta Comercial Reg. |
| Constitutive Documents | Any one of: Contrato Social · Estatuto Social |
| Tax Registration | Cartão CNPJ |
| Operating Permit | Alvará de Funcionamento |
| Ownership Records | Any one of: Quadro Societário · Contrato Social · Livro de Ações |
| Governance Records | Any one of: Contrato Social · Ata de Eleição |
| Signing Authority | Any one of: Ata de Assembleia · Procuração |
| Address | Any one of: Contrato de Locação · Comprovante de Endereço · Extrato Bancário |
| Good Standing | Certidão Simplificada |
Documents to collect
The physical documents you’ll collect from your customer, with the evidence area each one proves. One document can prove multiple areas — for example, Brazil’s Cartão CNPJ covers both tax and business-registration proof, so it appears once with both areas listed.| Document | Proves |
|---|---|
| Cartão CNPJ | Legal Registration, Tax Registration |
| Junta Comercial Reg. (NIRE) | Legal Registration |
| Contrato Social (LTDA) | Constitutive Documents, Ownership Records, Governance Records |
| Estatuto Social (S.A.) | Constitutive Documents |
| Alvará de Funcionamento (municipal) | Operating Permit |
| Quadro Societário | Ownership Records |
| Livro de Ações (S.A.) | Ownership Records |
| Ata de Eleição (S.A.) | Governance Records |
| Ata de Assembleia / Reunião de Sócios | Signing Authority |
| Procuração | Signing Authority |
| Contrato de Locação | Address |
| Comprovante de Endereço (≤90 dias) | Address |
| Extrato Bancário (≤90 dias) | Address |
| Certidão Simplificada (Junta Comercial) | Good Standing |
| Sector-Specific License | BCB (financial), CVM (securities), SUSEP (insurance), ANS, ANVISA |
Collection notes
- Signing Authority: ‘Ata de Assembleia / Reunião’ is one artifact with two title variants (Assembleia = S.A., Reunião = LTDA) — not two separate documents. The Ata is always required; Procuração is additionally required only when the acting representative is not a registered statutory officer. For classification, either artifact alone is sufficient to satisfy the slot.
- Address: Lease (no time bound) OR utility bill OR bank statement, with utility/bank dated within 90 days. Same evidence satisfies both registered-address and operating-address checks.
- Good Standing: Issued by the state Junta Comercial where the entity is registered. Reports situação cadastral (active, extinct, cancelled, bankrupt, transferred). Distinct from the Cartão CNPJ (tax/business registration). No statutory expiry but banks and counterparties typically require issuance within 30–90 days.
Person roles
When you submit a person on the application body, set theirrole to one of Conduit’s canonical BusinessPersonRole values. Use this table to map a local corporate-governance title onto the right canonical role.
| Local role | Canonical API role | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Sócio-Administrador | LEGAL_REPRESENTATIVE | Partner who also manages the LTDA. Must be identified in Contrato Social. |
| Administrador | LEGAL_REPRESENTATIVE | Non-partner manager of LTDA, if appointed. |
| Diretor | CONTROLLING_PERSON | Officer of S.A. appointed by board. |
| Conselheiro | CONTROLLING_PERSON | Member of Conselho de Administração in S.A. |
| Presidente | CONTROLLING_PERSON | Board chair or company president. |
| Procurador | LEGAL_REPRESENTATIVE | Holds power of attorney (procuração) to act on behalf of the company. |
Notes
- Proof of operating address must be a utility bill or lease no older than 3 months.