PinCADE’s 45th edition ends

On 13 February, the Administrative Council for Economic Defense (CADE) ended the 45th edition of its exchange programme, PinCADE. In total, 20 undergraduate and graduate students from all over the country participated this year.

During four weeks, the students worked in different units at CADE to experience the agency’s enforcement of the antitrust policy in Brazil.

In addition, they attended the Applied Course on Competition Defence, in which they had the opportunity to take part in seminars lectured by professionals from CADE, professors, and government authorities.

The students had the opportunity to learn about topics related to anticompetitive conduct, data protection, the digital economy, merger control, investigative tools, among other subjects in more than 40 panels.

In the closing session, President Gustavo Augusto congratulated all the participants on the conclusion of the programme and highlighted that many qualified professionals in the field took part in this programme. “I hope to see some of these faces again working at CADE in the future and remember that we will always have our doors open for you”, he stated.

Experiences

For Joana Buarque, student of Economics at the Universidade Federal Fluminense, in the state of Rio de Janeiro, the most important part of the PinCADE programme was the connections she made with people from all over the country and different fields. “This experience helped me put into practice what I’ve learned at university, what I research, and it certainly added value to my professional and academic career.”

Meanwhile, Breno Urbano, law student at Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo (PUC-SP), says he chose to participate because he knew he would be able to learn far more than what books can teach. “Now, on my last day, I feel fulfilled for meeting all my expectations and having the opportunity to get to know incredible people who are committed to competition defence.”

To conclude the last week of activities of the 45th edition of the programme, the students attended the first hearing of the Tribunal of CADE in 2026, which took place on 11 February.

To learn more about PinCADE, access the official website of the programme and check out the content on CADE’s Instagram account.