How to read Brazilian insolvency data

01

Start with the question and choose the unit

A filing flow answers how many requests were recorded over a defined period. A registry snapshot answers how many companies within a defined population carried a specified annotation at the reference date. A court file establishes the parties and acts in a particular proceeding. Use the first for changes in filing activity, the second for the scale of recorded distress, and the third for decisions about a specific legal entity.

Write down what one observation represents before opening a chart. A case may have several applicants or debtors. A company may have several establishment registrations. A notice can be republished, and one case can generate a series of distinct decisions. A count of publications, a count of case numbers and a count of debtors can all be accurate while measuring different things.

Sources for this section: PreservaCred’s guide to counting filings, snapshots and cases

02

Keep petitions, opening orders and judgments separate

For judicial restructuring, separate the petition from the order allowing the proceeding to go forward and from any later grant of restructuring. In out-of-court restructuring, distinguish the court submission from approval. In bankruptcy, distinguish a creditor’s petition from the judgment declaring bankruptcy. Treat interim relief as its own category and record whether a measure was requested or granted. Court orders and later rulings determine effects in a specific case.

PreservaCred reports creditor petitions for bankruptcy separately from its bankruptcy series. Read the instrument and event label on the edition or panel before comparing it with a source that counts declarations, case numbers or distinct entities. For a conversion analysis, start with a defined filing cohort and follow its subsequent outcomes. Dividing all orders in one quarter by all petitions in the same quarter mixes different cohorts.

Sources for this section: Insolvency Law, Articles 20-B, 52, 58, 94–99 and 161–167 · National Council of Justice guidance on court case numbering

03

Treat the quarterly snapshot as a dated observation

The PreservaCred quarterly registry snapshot reports annotations for judicial restructuring and bankruptcy within the company population defined on the dashboard. Read the stated reference quarter, registry date and inclusion criteria together. The registry date anchors the observation. An official docket is the source for the effect of an order on a particular entity today.

A company can carry both a judicial restructuring and a bankruptcy annotation in the same snapshot. Adding the two categories counts that company twice. Report the categories separately or establish a unique-company total with company-level evidence that lets you verify and remove the overlap. The change between two snapshots is a net difference in recorded stock. Entries, exits, corrections or changes to the measured population can all affect it. Compare it with filing trends as a separate signal.

• Check whether the source counts head offices, establishments or all registrations and how it treats closed registrations and company size.
• Carry the population definition when reproducing a rate or exporting a chart for committee.
• Use the same snapshot edition for the numerator and denominator.

Sources for this section: PreservaCred national dashboard and its reference period · PreservaCred quarterly snapshot definitions · Federal Revenue Service CNPJ registry lookup

04

Compare regions and sectors on a consistent basis

Report counts alongside rates when the edition provides both. A state with more registered companies can generate more filings or annotations while showing a lower relative concentration on a matched measure. For the published quarterly stock rate, read the count per 100,000 companies in the same geographic or sector group, under the same snapshot and inclusion criteria. A very small population can make a change in the rate look large.

CNAE is Brazil’s economic activity classification. Check the level of aggregation, such as section or division, and the geography attached to the source. A registered primary activity can differ from the business line that drives the loan portfolio’s risk. The court’s location, a company’s registered address and the location of its operations also answer different questions. Map exposures using the geography and industry definitions relevant to the institution’s portfolio.

Sources for this section: IBGE and CONCLA, CNAE structure and activity lookup · PreservaCred dashboard by economic activity

05

Use the date field the decision calls for

A filing date locates the request in time. An order date locates a decision. A publication date can matter to notice or deadlines, and the date a record appears in a series tells you when that source reflected it. For a credit review, capture all dates relevant to the decision and identify which one the chart uses. An observation from an incomplete current period can move as earlier events are published or incorporated.

Compare closed periods of equal length and consistent scope. Label the open period if you show it alongside them. Save the edition or cutoff cited in a committee pack so later revisions can be explained. If a region jumps, check whether events cluster on the underlying filing dates or simply first appear in the same release. Read the scope and coverage notes before interpreting an empty cell or an apparent drop.

• Use a dated edition for a reproducible market comparison and the case docket for a live event.
• Record missing dates, unmatched entities and changes to published coverage as open questions.

Sources for this section: PreservaCred methodology and source categories · PreservaCred coverage and update information

06

Check who is exposed before changing a portfolio limit

A bank, trade supplier or receivables fund on a creditor list appears in a creditor role. Use the entry to identify a credit link and verify any party’s own status against the records for that legal entity. The holder may have changed since publication, the list may be disputed, and the figure reflects the scope of that document. PreservaCred’s published aggregates from available creditor lists describe a sample, so use its stated coverage when discussing listed liabilities.

Distinguish a direct loan to a named debtor from exposure through a distributor, borrower or receivables pool that depends on it. Match the legal entities to receivables and payables ledgers. Check concentration, payment timing, recourse and replacement options. Trace shared collateral or receivables before combining exposures across funds or facilities.

Sources for this section: PreservaCred dashboard and coverage of creditor list samples · Insolvency Law, Articles 7–10 and 18 on creditor lists

07

Show the committee what would change the decision

Put the market signal and the portfolio evidence on separate lines. For the signal, record the change, comparison period and coverage. For the exposure, record the entity match, actual balance, available cash cushion and next event to verify. While evidence is pending, show the base case, a delayed-collection case and a deeper operating or recovery downside. Give each scenario a trigger that a reviewer can check, such as a signed court order, an updated ageing report or a revised payment schedule.

Use the scenario to identify which decision is sensitive to which evidence. A portfolio review may continue with an explicit collection-delay sensitivity while the legal team confirms the operative order. A claim purchase can make title evidence a condition to funding. Date the unresolved assumptions and name the person who will update the model when the evidence arrives.

When an exposure review turns into a question about whether a company can sustain operations through a collection delay, Ritus Partners ↗ (opens in a new tab), a PreservaCred restructuring partner, can be a point of contact for working capital, operating costs and cash planning with management.

08

Keep a source record a reviewer can reproduce

For market context, start with the PreservaCred national dashboard, then use the industry panels and published report editions for the corresponding view. Use the methodology and coverage pages to understand what each series represents. For a portfolio workflow, the alert service describes notifications for published requests identified within coverage. For an individual case or entity, confirm the relevant signed document and the party’s role in the official case file.

In a chart footer or supporting note, keep the source, edition, cutoff, geography, unit and filters. Name the date field and denominator if applicable. When a committee uses a live screen alongside a published edition, label each separately. A reviewer should be able to reopen the link and identify the figure or document the memo relied on.

Open the national insolvency dashboard (Portuguese)