Indicate by check mark whether the registrant by furnishing the information contained in this Form is also thereby furnishing the information to the Commission pursuant to Rule 12g3-2(b) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
Yes _______ No ___X____
Osasco, São Paulo, Brazil, May 6, 2004
To
Securities and
Exchange Commission
Office of International Corporate Finance
Division of Corporate
Finance
Washington, DC
Gentlemen,
The Board of Directors of Banco Bradesco S.A., complying with the deliberations taken at the Special Stockholders Meeting held on 12.17.2003, which instituted the Audit Committee, as contemplated in the Companys Bylaws, decided the following issues in a meeting held on 04.30.2004:
1. to approve the Audit Committee Statute;
2. to appoint, for composing the above-mentioned Committee, the following members:
Such appointed members will be in office for a 1 (one) year-period and their names will be submitted to the Brazilian Central Banks approval. The Audit Committees duties are contemplated in its Statute, in Banco Bradescos Bylaws, as well as, in applicable laws.
The Audit Committees objective is to assist the Board of Directors in performing activities related to the supervision of accounting and fiscal practices adopted in the preparation of financials statements of the Company, as well as, its subsidiaries.
Cordially,
Banco Bradesco S.A.
José Luiz Acar
Pedro
Executive Vice
President and
Investor Relations
Director
Statute of the Audit
Committee
of Banco Bradesco S.A.
Chapter I
The Committee and its Goals
Art. 1o) | The Audit Committee, hereinafter referred to as Committee, a permanent nature statutory body, is ruled by this Statute, by Banco Bradescos bylaws and by applicable legislation. |
Art. 2o) | The Committee is responsible for assisting the Board of Directors to perform its attributions related to the monitoring of accounting and fiscal practices adopted for preparing the financial statements of the Company and its affiliate companies. |
Chapter II
Subordination
Art. 3o) | The Committee is subordinated to the Board of Directors, acting independently from the Board of Executive Officers. |
Chapter III
Constitution
Art. 4o) | The Committee will be constituted of 3 (three) to 5 (five) members, with a one-year term of mandate, appointed and dismissed by the Board of Directors, having one of the members to be appointed as Coordinator. |
First Paragraph A Committee member can only be reappointed for such position after at least 3 (three) years from the end of its previous mandate, limited to 5 (five) successive reappointments. |
Second Paragraph The Committee members should be technically competent to perform the activities related to their positions and at least one of them should have proven knowledge in financial institutions accounting and auditing areas, that allows qualifications for such position. |
Third Paragraph In the event of a vacant position in the Committee, the Board of Directors will appoint a substitute. |
Fourth Paragraph The mandate of a Committee member cannot be delegated and should be performed based on diligence and loyalty duties, as well as avoiding any conflicting situation that may affect the interest of the Company and its stockholders. |
Chapter IV
Committees Attributions
Art. 5o) | The following are the Committees attributions: |
a) | to recommend to the Board of Directors the company to be hired for rendering independent auditing services, its respective remuneration, as well as its replacement; |
b) | to review financial statements including explanatory notes, management reports and independent auditors report, prior to their disclose to the market; |
c) | to evaluate the effectiveness of both internal and independent audits regarding the fulfillment of legal and normative requirements applicable to the Company, in addition to internal regulations and codes; |
d) | to verify, during the meetings mentioned in Article 9, the fulfillment of its recommendations and/or explanations for its questions, including the planning of respective auditing works, drawing up Minutes of all such meetings; |
e) | to evaluate the fulfillment, by the Companys Board of Executive Officers, of recommendations made by either internal or independent auditors, as well as to recommend to the Board of Directors the resolution of eventual conflicts between external auditors and the Board of Executive Officers; |
f) | to establish and announce the procedures for the acceptance and treatment of information related to the unfulfillment of legal and normative dispositions applicable to the Company, in addition to regulations and internal codes, including the recommendation of procedures to protect the information provider and also the information confidentiality; |
g) | to recommend to the Board of Officers corrections or improvements in policies, practices and procedures included in its attributions; |
h) | to establish operating rules for its performance; |
i) | to
hold meetings with the Fiscal Committee and the Board of Directors, upon their
request, to discuss about policies, practices and procedures identified
in the scope of their duties. |
Art. 6o) | The attributions of the Committees Coordinator are the following: |
a) | to summon and preside the Committees meetings; |
b) | to evaluate and define the issues to be treated during the meetings, including in the agenda the issues to be discussed; |
c) | to fulfill and guarantee the fulfillment of the Committee Internal Statute; |
d) | to authorize the discussion of issues that were not included in the meeting agenda; |
e) | to request the issue of a report prepared by any specialized consultant or consulting company; |
f) | to nominate the Secretary of the Board, who will be the responsible for drawing up the Committees meeting Minutes. |
Chapter V
Requirements
Art.7o) | The following are the requirements for being appointed as a Committee member: |
I- | not
to be nor have acted as, in the last twelve months:
|
II- | not to be neither married nor a relative in direct line, in collateral line up to the third level and by affinity up to the second level of people referred to in items a and c of above subheading I; |
III- | not to receive any other kind of remuneration from the Company or its related companies, except for the remuneration related to the office of Audit Committee Member. |
Single Paragraph In case the member of the Audit Committee is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Company or of its related companies, such member is allowed to choose for which of these officers he will be paid; |
IV- | have blameless reputation; |
V- | not to be neither prevented by special law nor condemned for crimes of bankruptcy, tax evasion, forfeit, active or passive corruption, concussion, peculation, against popular economy, against full faith and credit, against property or against the National Financial System, nor condemned for a criminal punishment that forbids, even for a certain period of time, the access to public offices; |
VI- | not
to have neither been declared bankrupt or insolvent nor to have participated in
the management or control of insolvent or concordatory company or
corporation.
|
Chapter VI
Prohibitions
Art. 8o) | The Committee members are prohibited from taking part, directly or indirectly, into trades of securities issued by the Company or referred to such securities: |
a) | before the disclosure to the market of relevant act or fact occurred in the Companys business; |
b) | in the 15-day (fifteen) period prior to the disclosure of the Companys quarterly (ITR) and annual (IAN) information; |
c) | in case of intention to promote incorporation, total or partial split, merger, transformation or stock restructuring; |
d) | during
the acquisition or sale process of stocks issued by the Company, exclusively on the
dates on which the Company is involved in negotiations.
|
Chapter VII
Meetings Frequency and Quorum
Art. 9o) |
For the fulfillment of its attributions, the Committee will have meetings, at least,
on quarterly basis, with the Companys Board of Officers and independent and
internal auditors.
|
Chapter VIII
Report Obligations
Art. 10) |
The Committee should prepare, at the end of each semester terminated on June 30th and
December 31st, a document named Audit Committee Report including, at least,
the following information:
|
Chapter IX
Report to the Brazilian Central Bank
Art. 11) |
The Committee should formally inform the Brazilian Central Bank, within at most 3
(three) days after its identification, the existence or the evidences of
mistakes or frauds represented by: |
Chapter X
Other Duties and Responsibilities
Art. 12) | The
Committee, in addition to responsibilities already mentioned in this Statute, must:
|
BANCO BRADESCO S.A.
| ||
By: |
/S/
José Luiz Acar
Pedro
| |
José Luiz Acar
Pedro
Executive Vice President and Investor Relations Director
|
This press release may contain forward-looking statements. These statements are statements that are not historical facts, and are based on management's current view and estimates of future economic circumstances, industry conditions, company performance and financial results. The words "anticipates", "believes", "estimates", "expects", "plans" and similar expressions, as they relate to the company, are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Statements regarding the declaration or payment of dividends, the implementation of principal operating and financing strategies and capital expenditure plans, the direction of future operations and the factors or trends affecting financial condition, liquidity or results of operations are examples of forward-looking statements. Such statements reflect the current views of management and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties. There is no guarantee that the expected events, trends or results will actually occur. The statements are based on many assumptions and factors, including general economic and market conditions, industry conditions, and operating factors. Any changes in such assumptions or factors could cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations.