Brazil'scentral bank, Banco Central do Brasil,on April 7 published a norm reversing a previous rule that required banks to closethe accounts of clients with tax irregularities, Diário Comércio Indústria & Serviços reported.

Previously,banks were required to close the accounts of clients if the national tax authorityreported problems with their income tax declaration.

Banksare still required to close accounts in some cases, but only once the client hasbeen given a period of 90 days to regularize their tax situation, which is up from30 days previously, the report said.