How does the US decision on terrorist PCC and CV threaten Pix do Brasil?

With the announcement of the classification of the PCC (Primeiro Comando da Capital) and the CV (Comando Vermelho) as terrorist groups by the United States, which comes into effect next Friday (5), the possibility of associating the SFN (National Financial System) and Brazilian banking technologies, especially Pix, with the financing of these organizations comes on the radar.

Although the payment system was not directly mentioned in any statement from the American government related to terrorism, Palácio do Planalto stated, in a statement released on Friday (29), that unilateral measures could "affect our financial system and national innovations such as PIX, which disturb foreign interests".

The instant bank transfer tool is already a point of friction in relations between Brazil and the United States.

Last year, during the tensions of Donald Trump's tariff war, the US government even included Brazilian innovation in a trade investigation by the USTR (acronym in English for Office of the United States Trade Representative), under Section 301.

The investigation remains ongoing, despite negotiations between the two countries, and is expected to reach a conclusion in the coming months.

How Pix can enter the discussion
According to Fabio Coimbra, independent management advisor and specialist in governance, risks and regulation, Pix, in itself, is not a problem that should attract the attention of North American authorities and institutions with the classification, but rather its possible use for criminal activities.

The expert highlights that, like any means of payment, Pix requires governance, traceability, PLD/FT (Prevention of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing), anti-fraud mechanisms and identification of the final beneficiary, which reinforces that the system does not stand out negatively among banking tools.

"The risk lies in the use of pass-through accounts, orange accounts, shell companies, hidden final beneficiaries, fragmented flows and movements incompatible with the client's economic profile", he states.

Still, Coimbra points out that, in a fast, massive and digital infrastructure like Pix, control failures can gain greater scale and speed than in other payment methods.

Cristiano Roveda, founding partner of the firm Roveda & Marcelino and specialist in Corporate Law and Corporate Governance, also draws attention to the large-scale diffusion of the system in Brazilian daily life.

"Pix, on the one hand, has enormous versatility and dynamism due to its simplicity, but it is precisely this characteristic that perhaps makes it the target of some distrust on the part of the North American government", he states.

According to Roveda, the scale of Pix's use, added to certain control limitations and operational history, may generate distrust on the part of foreign authorities and, eventually, result in questions about the use of the system.

New layer of pressure on the financial system
With the new classification of criminal organizations under the eyes of American authorities, the SFN (National Financial System) is now facing greater pressure for control and security mechanisms, says lawyer specializing in international trade Vera Kanas.

Kanas highlights that the measure should lead financial institutions to adjust and look for ways to implement additional controls across all their systems, including Pix.

"This will lead banks to adjust, and it will be a relevant adjustment given this new layer of pressure that did not exist before. There will be new compliance parameters, much more robust than those that exist today", says the lawyer.

Coimbra remembers that the classification does not bring any immediate harm, but increases the level of demand on Brazilian institutions and mechanisms.

"The point is that the bar of scrutiny rises. Controls that seemed sufficient may need to be reevaluated in the face of a new perception of external risk", says the expert.

Roveda also assesses that Brazil and Brazilian companies "will be the target of much more careful compliance measures than they have been subjected to until now".

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Source: CNN