Brazil's CVM launches simulated DLT pilot programme for capital markets
Key points
- Brazil's CVM published DLT pilot programme rules this week, with applications due within 15 business days of publication, roughly 5 November 2026.
- Testing begins the day after the application deadline and runs for 60 days, with a possible 30-day extension.
- The programme prohibits real transactions, real assets, and real investors, making it a fully simulated exercise despite the 'pilot' label.
- Networks must be proposed by associations or self-regulatory organisations in the CVM's existing Tokenisation Working Group (GTT); ANBIMA, Ancord, and Abrasca are expected to host tests.
- The CVM can admit non-regulated participants under exceptional circumstances, potentially opening access to technology vendors and foreign institutions.
Brazil’s securities regulator, the Comissão de Valores Mobiliários (CVM), published formal rules this week for a capital markets pilot programme using distributed ledger technology (DLT), setting an application deadline of approximately 5 November and a 60-day testing window that can be extended by a further 30 days. Despite the CVM’s use of the word ‘pilot’, the programme explicitly excludes real transactions, assets, and investors, making it a simulated environment rather than a live trial with economic stakes.
Participation is structured through associations and self-regulatory organisations already embedded in the CVM’s Tokenisation Working Group (GTT). Capital markets association ANBIMA, which launched a DLT pilot project last year, is positioned to host test networks alongside broker association Ancord and listed-company body Abrasca. The CVM has placed no ceiling on the number of test networks, and under exceptional circumstances it can admit non-regulated entities, a provision that could bring technology providers and foreign firms into scope.
CVM Chair Otto Lobo framed the exercise as a knowledge-building exercise, stating that the programme will give the regulator ‘a practical understanding of the opportunities, challenges, and risks associated with the use of distributed ledger technology in the capital markets.’ For operators, the compressed timeline and the involvement of established industry bodies suggest that institutions already engaged with the GTT are best placed to shape the regulatory learning that will inform any future live framework.
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