After the approval and promulgation of Legislative Decree No. 15/2018 by the Federal Senate, on March 20, the Agreement on Air Transport between Brazil and the United States (Open Skies), signed by former presidents Dilma Rousseff and Barak Obama in 2011, awaits only the promulgation of a presidential decree to be enacted.

In September, BNDES approved four credit transactions for three different companies in the rail sector, totaling almost half a billion Brazilian Reais for the revitalization of lines, maintenance of equipment, and purchases of new railcars and machinery. This measure is in line with the new governmental policies and directives for the promotion of the railway sector, which, since 2007, when the North Section of the North-South Railroad was subject to a sub-concession, has been suffering from a lack of consistent privatization projects.

The infrastructure financing sector in Brazil has undergone significant structural and strategic changes in the last two years. These changes were mainly focused on the strategic redefinition of the National Economic and Social Development Bank (BNDES), which has gradually withdrawn from its centralizing role in financing transactions to assume a profile more complementary to the capital market, with new financing conditions and the adoption of the Long-Term Rate (TLP), which replaced the Long-Term Interest Rate (TJLP).

Presidential Decree (MP) No. 845/18, published on July 20, established the National Railway Development Fund (FNDF), with the objective of allocating resources to the national railway system. The FNDF will give priority to the implementation of the stretch between the Port of Vila do Conde in Pará and the North-South Track (EF-151 or FNS). The investments will start in the municipality of Barcarena/PA, per the terms of article 3 of MP 845/18.

The public notice for projects qualified during the fifth meeting of the Council of the Investment Partnership Program (CPPI), held on March 25, is expected to be published by next quarter, and the auction is expected to be held later this year for contracts for the beginning of 2019.

Since the Social Security Reform failed, the Federal Government announced that it will prioritize institutional micro-reforms. One of them is the new framework for regulatory agencies, the subject of Senate Bill (PLS) No. 52/2013.

The validity of maritime mortgages registered abroad has been subject to judicial battles for the past few years in Brazil, in the context of the OSX 3 Leasing B.V. case. The debate has finally reached a positive outcome for creditors, represented by Nordic Trustee ASA as the trustee and mortgagor, thanks to a decision issued by the Superior Court of Justice (STJ) on November 17, 2017, and published on February 1, 2018.

The Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME) submitted to the President of Brazil a proposed bill (PL) relating to the reform of the electric sector and covering a variety of significant changes to the sector that have long been awaited.

In this article we analyze which situations call for companies providing public aviation services to submit their corporate acts for the approval of the National Civil Aviation Agency (ANAC) before they are filed with the competent board of trade.

The expansion of the power sector, one of the flagships in Brazil's infrastructure, has been assured in recent years by investments obtained in several auctions of new, existing, and reserve energy held by the Federal Government through the National Electric Energy Agency (ANEEL) and the Electric Energy Trading Chamber (CCEE).

After lengthy discussions, at the end of November the Federal Senate approved two presidential decrees that alter the legislative environment of the mining sector. MP 789, which modifies the rules of Financial Compensation for the Exploration of Mineral Resources, CFEM, and MP 791, which creates the National Mining Agency to replace the National Department of Mineral Production. The final texts of Conversion Bills Nos. 38/17 and 37/17, submitted for presidential approval, were finally converted, respectively, into Laws No. 13,540/2017 and 13,575/2017, published in the Official Federal Gazette on December 19 and 27.

One of the federal government's initiatives to stimulate privatization processes at the federal, state, and municipal levels, Presidential Decree No.