Brazil's financial market regulator put forward new regulations that relax some rules governing infrastructure investment funds in an effort to bring more resources to such vehicles.

Among the new guidelines, published March 25, the CVM will now allow the retail investors to buy into the funds; previously, only professional or qualified investors were able to do so.

The rules also double the maximum exposure that qualified investors can have to a single issuer to 40% from 20%. In Brazil, qualified investors are defined as those with at least 1 million reais in investable assets.

In announcing the changes, the CVM is recognizing "the clear benefit in the use of collective vehicles of investment to enhance the volume of resources applied to infrastructure projects (which are) considered a priority by the (federal government)," the regulator's market development head, Antonio Berwanger, said in a statement.

The modifications, labeled as Instruction 606, also apply to investment funds composed of real state assets, credit rights, real estate receivables and agribusiness receivables, Reuters reported.