Brazil's antitrust regulator continues to operate under interim leadership due to delays in staff appointments.
Brazil’s antitrust authority has appointed Felipe Leitão Valadares Roquete as interim superintendent. The decision, made by interim president Diogo Thomson, underscores a growing leadership vacuum within the agency, which already has three empty Tribunal seats. The decision was published today in the Official Journal.
Roquete replaces Alexandre Barreto de Souza, who stepped down after more than eight years leading the Superintendence, the investigative arm responsible for merger reviews and antitrust probes. His appointment is temporary and will last until President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva nominates a permanent superintendent for a two-year term, subject to Senate approval.
The choice came between Roquete and Felipe Neiva Mundim, the agency’s other deputy superintendent and an economist. Thomson ultimately opted for Roquete, a lawyer who has been with the Administrative Council for Economic Defense (CADE) since 2012, having held coordination positions in antitrust units before assuming the interim role.
The move comes as CADE faces mounting vacancies at the top level. The authority currently lacks a confirmed president and has three empty seats on its Tribunal, leaving it with the minimum quorum required for rulings.
The gaps stem from delays in presidential nominations. The situation dates to July 2025, when then-president Alexandre Cordeiro left his post. Since then, his seat — along with those of councilors Victor Oliveira Fernandes and Gustavo Augusto Freitas de Lima — has not been filled, and no nominations have been sent to the Senate for approval.
The delays reflect broader political impasses in Congress that have slowed Lula’s nominations across agencies. The standoff recently culminated in the Senate’s rejection of the president’s nominee to the Supreme Federal Court.
The most senior positions at CADE — in both its Tribunal and Superintendence — are now being held on an interim basis, leaving the agency under temporary leadership at the top level.
Source: MLex
