Brazil carrier Gol says country's foreign ownership ban is outdated

Decades-old regulations barring foreigners from owning Brazil’s airlines are outdated and “might make no sense anymore,” the top executive of Brazil’s Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes SA, said Wednesday. Foreigners are limited by law to a 20% stake in any Brazilian airline’s voting stock. But while Brazil may be entering an economic liberalization phase - far-right President-elect Jair Bolsonaro has vowed to cut spending and privatize state companies - Gol CEO Paulo Kakinoff said it is unclear whether the new administration will seek to loosen the existing regulations. “Our company has always been in favor of bringing to our country all the conditions to have access to foreign capital without any kind of restriction,” Kakinoff said. “This should be one of the positive effects of having some change in the current legislation.” Outgoing President Michel Temer has said he is in favour of allowing full foreign ownership. In 2017, he said he would enact this change through executive action, only to change his mind and submit a bill to Congress, where the plan has stalled. Kakinoff added that Gol is not currently in talks with Delta, which owns a 9.5% stake in Gol preferred shares, or any other entity, about taking a bigger stake in the Brazilian carrier. In October, Gol said it planned to acquire full control of its listed loyalty program, a subsidiary called Smiles Fidelidade. <br/>