Cepeda advises J.P. Morgan on first BDR-ETF in Brazil

J.P. Morgan Asset Management launched, the first Brazilian Depositary Receipt (BDR) backed by an actively managed Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) to be traded on B3, Brazil’s stock exchange. The underlying product is the JPMorgan Equity Premium Income ETF (JEPI), currently the world’s largest actively managed ETF. Cepeda Advogados provided full Brazilian regulatory counsel on the transaction.

The transaction expands domestic investors’ access to international active ETFs through a BDR structure, creating a new distribution channel for this category of product in the Brazilian market.

Cepeda Advogados relied on partners André Wakimoto and Felipe Amaral Macedo led the legal advisory on the deal, which required more than two years of engagement with the Comissão de Valores Mobiliários (CVM). The launch of JEPI in Brazil is seen as a significant step toward greater sophistication and diversification of the domestic capital markets, opening a new avenue for the distribution of internationally managed active ETFs to Brazilian investors.