Three new Commissioners formally took office on May 4, 2011 at CADE. At the same date, Fernando Furlan (former Commissioner and acting-President of CADE) took office as President of the autarchy, which is the higher administrative authority in antitrust enforcement in Brazil.
With this assignments, CADE's Board is complete again.
Headed by Fernando Furlan, the Board is now composed by Olavo Chinaglia (the dean, in his second mandate), Carlos Ragazzo (in his second mandate), Ricardo Ruiz (in his first mandate, since January 2010), Alessandro Octaviani (in his first mandate, since April 2011), Elvino Mendonça (former SEAE, in his first mandate, since May 2011), and Marcos Paulo Verissimo (former BNDES, in his first mandate, since May 2011).
The new Board will decide important cases, both in merger and behavior antitrust control areas. Perdigão- Sadia transaction (creating the giant Brasil Foods) will probably be the first one. The transaction returned to the Midia after CADE's General Attorney office issued a non-binding opinion conditioning its approval to major restrictions (including relevant divestments). The stock market reacted and Brasil Foods' stocks dropped substantially at BMF-Bovespa, what caused a heated exchange of public declarations between the company 's management and the General Attorney. CADE's decision in this case will be polemic, independently of the results. One of the new Commissioners (Elvino Mendonça) and CADE's president Fulan are prevented and will not participate in the judgment. Mendonça is part of the team that signed SEAE's opinion; Furlan is related to Sadia's executives.
