Brazil looks to controls

New legislation in Brazil on banking systems and controls has triggered a flood of sales from large accountancy firms and specialist service providers. John Rumsey looks at the new rules and how Brazilian banks are responding

Brazilian banks had until the end of May to submit a detailed operational risk plan to the Banco Central do Brasil (Central Bank of Brazil). They now have until the end of the year to implement these plans.

Generally, international and large domestic private banks have seen it as a good dry run for the bigger issue of implementing Basel II and are meeting the challenge; medium-sized banks are scrambling to adapt and spending heavily on vendors; and some smaller banks are floundering as they