PROVISIONAL MEASURE # 1.965-19, OF September 22, 2000.

Establishes the nullity of the contractual provisions that it mentions and inverts, in the hypotheses it provides, the burden of proof in the actions intended for its declaration.

THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC, in the use of the attribution that confers you the art. 62 of the Constitution, adopts the following Interim Measure, with force of law:

Art. 1º Are void of full right the usurary stipulations, thus considered as those to establish:

I-in mutual contracts of mutual interest, interest rates higher than legally permitted, in which case the judge, if required, shall adjust them to the legal measure or, in the event that they have already been complied with, order the refund, in double, of the amount paid in excess, with legal interest to be counted from the date of the undue payment ;

II-in non-disciplined legal business by the commercial and consumer protection laws, excessive profits or advantages, stipulated in a situation of vulnerability of the party, in which case the judge should, if required, re-establish the balance of the contractual relationship by adjusting them to the current value, or, in the assumption of fulfilment of the obligation, order the refund, at double, of the amount received in excess, with legal interest to be counted from the date of payment undue.

Single Paragraph. For the setting of the excessive profit or advantage, the will of the parties, the circumstances of the conclusion of the contract, their content and nature, the origin of the corresponding obligations, market practices and interest rates shall be deemed to be the will of the parties. legally permitted.

Art. 2º shall also be void of full law the contractual provisions which, on the pretext of conferring or conveying rights, are concluded to ensure, directly or indirectly, civil contracts of mutual agreement with usurary stipulations.

Art. 3º In the actions aimed at the declaration of nullity of stipulations with amparo in the provisions of this Provisional Measure, it shall incumbent upon the creditor or beneficiary of the business the burden of proving the legal regularity of the corresponding obligations, whenever demonstrated by the impaired, or by the circumstances of the case, the verossimilarance of the allegation.

Art. 4º The provisions of this Provisional Measure do not apply:

I-the financial institutions and other institutions authorised to function by the Central Bank of Brazil, as well as to the operations carried out in the financial, capital and securities markets, which remain governed by the legal and regulatory standards that apply to them ;

II-to credit societies that have per exclusive social object the granting of financing to the microentrepreneur ;

III-to civil society organizations of public interest of which it treats Law No. 9,790 of March 23, 1999, duly registered in the Ministry of Justice, which engage in alternative credit systems and do not have any type of linkage with the National Financial System.

Single Paragraph. They may also be excluded from the provisions of this Provisional Measure, upon deliberation by the National Monetary Council, other modalities of operations and business of a subsidiary nature, supplementary or ancillary of activities carried out within the framework of of financial, capital and securities markets.

Art. 5º Stay convalidated the acts practiced on the basis of the Provisional Measure No. 1.965-18 of August 25, 2000.

Art. 6º This Provisional Measure shall come into force on the date of its publication.

Art. 7º It is revoked § 3º of the art. 4º of Law No. 1,521 of December 26, 1951.

Brasilia, September 22, 2000 ; 179º of Independence and 112º of the Republic.

FERNANDO HENRIQUE CARDOSO

Jose Gregori

Amaury Guilherme Bier