Alexandre Barreto leaves CADE after almost nine years of office

On 25 June, Alexandre Barreto, superintendent general of the Administrative Council for Economic Defense (CADE), leaves the antitrust authority, after almost nine years of office. Working as a civil servant since 1993, his career has been marked by service in strategic areas of the Brazilian government.

Mr Barreto is a Ph.D. candidate in Political Science at the University of Lisbon (ULisboa). He has a master’s degree, a specialisation, and a bachelor’s degree in Public Administration from the University of Brasília (UnB).

He worked at the National Treasury and the Brazilian Federal Revenue Office, before being appointed a federal auditor of the Brazilian Federal Court of Accounts (TCU), where he carried out activities regarding government auditing, managing public procurements and contracts, fighting against frauds and corruption in the government, and combating cartels in public procurements.

Later, he was assigned to the Brazilian Senate, where he worked as a technical advisor in the Parliamentary Inquiry Commissions (CPIs) in different periods, collaborating with investigations of national relevance.

In June 2017, he became President of CADE, a position he held for four years. During his term, CADE was consolidated in the international competition policy landscape, with emphasis on the admission of the authority as an associate member of the Competition Committee of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), in addition to the acknowledgment of the agency as one of the main antitrust authorities in the world.

His administration was also marked by the strengthening of the institutional cooperation with Brazilian and foreign public bodies, including the Central Bank of Brazil, Federal Prosecution Services, regulatory agencies, and other entities involved in the promotion of more competitive and efficient markets, as well as the institutional strengthening of CADE and its participation in relevant debates of the Brazilian agenda.

Office of the Superintendent General

In April 2022, Alexandre Barreto took over the Office of the Superintendent General and was reappointed in June 2024. While in this position, he focused on improving the work processes of the antitrust authority with more efficiency, reducing time limits for merger reviews, and upgrading mechanisms to fight against anticompetitive conducts, as well as modernising review processes.

Mr Barreto’s journey at CADE has been marked by dedication to public service and the defence of the public interest, reflected in initiatives in several fronts to strengthen the institution and promote more competitive markets