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The Office of the Attorney General of the Federal Government (AGU) issued an opinion clarifying that the Official Gazette – now exclusively digital – does not replace widely circulated newspapers for purposes of the legal notices required under Article 289 of the Brazilian Corporations Act (Law No. 6,404/76).

The opinion responds to a consultation by the DREI and JUCESP, which questioned whether mandatory notices could be published solely in the Official Gazette, thereby doing away with printed newspapers.

According to the AGU, the current wording of Article 289 of the Corporations Act requires that corporations publicize their corporate acts in the form a notice in at least one widely circulated newspaper, with a summarized printed version and the full content made available in the newspaper’s digital edition.

As the Official Gazette no longer has a printed version, it no longer meets the legal requirements.

The opinion follows the Brazilian Supreme Court’s decision in ADI 7194, which upheld the constitutionality of the current rule. The combination of a summarized printed notice and full digital disclosure ensures transparency and access to information, without the need to revert to previous publication models.

The document also reinforces the distinction between the legal regimes applicable to different types of companies:

· Limited liability companies remain subject to Article 1,152, §1 of the Civil Code and must publish their notices in both the Official Gazette and a widely circulated newspaper.

· Corporations (S.A.), in turn, follow the simplified regime under the Corporations Act and are not required to publish notices in the Official Gazette.

Accordingly, the AGU reaffirmed that mandatory publications for corporations must be carried out through widely circulated newspapers, as provided under current corporate legislation.