Local Partner in Brazil: How LegalBR Opens Doors for Investors and Firms

Reviewed by Luiz Eduardo da Silva, director of LegalBR. Updated on 17 October 2026. About 10 minutes to read.

A foreign investor does not need a Brazilian shareholder, but every project needs a reliable local partner in Brazil: someone on the ground who files, signs, chases and reports. LegalBR plays that role for investors and for the consultancies, law firms and accounting firms that serve them. This guide explains who does what in Brazil, how we coordinate the ecosystem, and how your firm can work with us.

Do you need a local partner in Brazil to own a company?

No. Brazilian law does not require a Brazilian shareholder in an ordinary company. A foreign individual or a foreign company can hold 100% of a limited company (sociedade limitada, Ltda), a single-member limited company (SLU) or a corporation (sociedade anônima, S.A.). Some regulated sectors have their own ownership limits, so check your activity first.

What the law does require is a resident representative. A shareholder living abroad must appoint a person resident in Brazil with powers to receive service of process. For corporations, this rule is in article 119 of Law 6,404/1976, and the Federal Registration Department (DREI) applies an equivalent rule to limited companies. In addition, a foreign company that becomes a shareholder needs its own CNPJ, which also requires a representative before the Federal Revenue (Receita Federal). Our guide on choosing a legal representative covers the details.

As a result, the real question is not “who will be my Brazilian partner?” but “who will do each job well in Brazil?”. That is where a team of local partners matters.

Who does what: lawyer, accountant, paralegal and representative

Foreign investors often expect one professional to handle everything. However, Brazil splits the work among regulated professions, and each one has a clear role. Mixing them up causes delays, gaps and, sometimes, invalid acts.

Two legal points support this division. First, Law 8,906/1994 reserves legal consulting and advice to lawyers. Second, the same law says the founding acts of a legal entity can only be registered when endorsed by a lawyer, although Complementary Law 123/2006 waives this for micro and small companies. For that reason, LegalBR works alongside lawyers and accountants instead of replacing them.

One point of contact for the whole ecosystem

A typical entry project touches the Board of Trade (Junta Comercial), the Receita Federal, the state and municipal tax offices, a bank, the Central Bank and, in some cases, a sector regulator. In practice, the investor also deals with a notary or apostille authority abroad and a sworn translator. Without coordination, the investor ends up managing six or seven parties in a foreign language.

Therefore, we act as the single coordinating point in Brazil. We prepare the document checklist, review the powers of attorney before they are signed abroad, follow each filing and report status in the client’s language. The lawyer and the accountant keep their own roles, but the investor sees one plan and one timeline.

For the full sequence, see our step by step guide to opening a business in Brazil. Once the apostilled documents arrive, our team typically has the company ready to operate within 15 to 30 days, unless the activity requires a specific license.

The local partners in Brazil we work with

We work with three kinds of firms. Each one keeps its own client and its own expertise, while LegalBR adds execution capacity in Brazil.

Consultancies abroad that bring investors to Brazil

Business consultancies in Asia, Europe and the Americas often guide clients through market entry but have no team on the ground. For example, a consultancy helping a manufacturer open a sales subsidiary needs someone to form the company, act as resident representative, file corporate acts, obtain certificates and register the foreign investment in SCE-IED. The consultancy keeps the client relationship and the strategy, and LegalBR executes in Brazil. See our guide on SCE-IED registration for that last step.

Law firms, Brazilian and foreign

Law firms advise on structure, contracts and transactions. However, much of the work after the advice is administrative: Board of Trade filings, corporate books, certificates, registrations and the logistics of powers of attorney. When a firm refers this paralegal work, its lawyers stay focused on advice, and the client still gets fast execution. Foreign law firms also use us as the Brazilian arm for corporate housekeeping of their clients’ subsidiaries.

Accounting firms

Accounting firms play two roles with us. First, as the client’s accountant: when we form a company for a foreign investor, a trusted accountant handles tax, payroll and bookkeeping from the start. Second, as a corporate partner: many accounting firms have an internal corporate (societário) team that is overloaded with amendments and filings. In that case, the accounting firm outsources Board of Trade acts, amendments, corporate books and registrations to LegalBR, which speeds up its own workflow.

How referrals and work division work

A referral only works if both firms know exactly where their job ends. For that reason, we agree on the rules before the first matter starts.

1. Confidentiality first

   We sign a confidentiality agreement with the partner firm, and client data is used only for the agreed matter.

2. The client stays with the referring firm

   We do not approach the client for other services without the partner’s consent, and we report through the channel the partner prefers.

3. Clear scope in writing

   Each matter has a written scope: which acts we file, which documents the client provides and what the lawyer or accountant handles.

4. Shared checklists

   We send a checklist of documents and signatures adapted to the client’s country, including apostille and translation needs.

5. Status reporting

   We report each filing, requirement (exigência) and approval, so the partner can update the client without chasing us.

In addition, the division of work respects professional boundaries. We do not give legal opinions or tax advice, and we bring the partner’s lawyer or accountant in whenever a question needs one.

What a partner firm gains

• Speed. Corporate acts are prepared and filed by a team that does this every day, so requirements are anticipated instead of discovered.
• Capacity in all 27 Juntas. Brazil has one Board of Trade in each of its 26 states and in the Federal District, and practices vary. We file in all of them, so your firm does not need local contacts in each state.
• Multilingual service. We work with clients in English, Spanish, Chinese and Portuguese, and we can explain Brazilian requirements in the client’s own terms.
• WeChat for Chinese clients. Chinese investors can reach us on WeChat (ID: legalbr), which is often the channel they actually use.
• Resident representation. We can act as resident representative for foreign shareholders, which consultancies abroad cannot do.
• Clean records. Updated corporate books and certificates make later transactions, audits and due diligence easier.

As a result, partner firms can accept Brazilian work they would otherwise decline, without hiring a local team.

A long-term bond: LegalBR as your paralegal arm in Brazil

In a partnership, LegalBR works as an operational extension of the partner firm, not as a competitor. The client stays with the partner: legal advice stays with the lawyer, accounting stays with the accountant, and LegalBR handles the paralegal and registry work within the agreed scope.

The relationship rests on three commitments. First, confidentiality: client data and documents are used only for the matter. Second, predictability: every filing has a checklist, a deadline and a status shared with the partner. Third, continuity: the same team follows the partner over time and learns its document standards, which cuts rework on every new matter.

In practice, the more a partner uses the structure, the more it adapts to that partner’s workflow. For example, minutes and amendment templates in the firm’s own standard, a corporate calendar for recurring clients, and reports in the format the partner prefers to pass on to its client.

How to become a LegalBR partner in Brazil

There is no complex onboarding. In practice, most partnerships start with a single matter and grow from there.

1. Contact us with a short description of your firm, the countries you serve and the type of work you expect to refer.
2. Short call. We discuss scope, confidentiality, reporting format and language preferences.
3. First matter. We start with a real case, using a shared checklist and agreed status updates.
4. Review. After the first matter, we adjust the process to fit your workflow.

You can see the full list of what we do on our services page. For employment questions, your clients can also read our guide on hiring employees in Brazil.

Questions investors ask