GC Summit Portugal 2023

Event information

Date: Thu 23 Mar 2023 Time: 2.00pm-7.30pm Venue: Four Seasons Hotel Ritz Lisbon, Rua Rodrigo da Fonseca, 88, Lisbon, 1099-039

The Legal 500 is delighted to host the GC Summit Portugal on the 23rd of March 2023. An exclusive event designed for Portugal’s illustrious in-house community to network, share experiences and learn from a distinguished panel of speakers.

The conference will cover a wide breadth of issues including the changing face of M&A, the evolution of general counsel and the key trends driving the ESG agenda and more. We are pleased to introduce this interesting schedule of panel sessions in association with our event partners Morais Leitão, Abreu Advogados, CMS, VdA and PLMJ.

In addition to hearing from our event partners, this event will also incorporate the unique perspective of in-house counsel on these topics, aimed at presenting attendees with a well-rounded and insightful discussion. This event is not to be missed by in-house counsel in Portugal wishing to develop professionally and meet like-minded peers. Like always, the event will conclude with drinks, food, and an exceptional chance for attendees to grow their portfolio of contacts within the Portuguese legal community.

Agenda

2.00pm – 2.30pm Registration

2.30pm – 2.40pm Welcome address and keynote

Melissa Yebisi, research analyst, The Legal 500

2.40pm – 3.30pm A Critical Look at the Evolution of the Role of General Counsel

Rui de Oliveira Neves, partner, Morais Leitao
António Neto Alves, legal, compliance and public affairs director & company secretary, The Navigator Company
Patrícia Afonso Fonseca, head of legal, Novo Banco
Mariana Solá Albuquerque, head of legal, Powerdot
Presented by Morais Leitao

3.30pm – 4.20pm Key Trends Driving the ESG Agenda

Assunção Cristas, of counsel – ESG integrated services platform and head of the environment practice, VdA
João Tomaz, head of prudential, financial markets and sustainability, Portuguese Banking Association
Miguel Ventura, senior consultant of the governance practice, VdA
Gonçalo Castilho dos Santos, director of legal services, Banco de Portugal
Presented by VdA

4.20pm – 4.30pm Coffee break

4.30pm – 5.20pm The Changing Face of M&A: Recent M&A Activity in Portugal and ESG Concerns

José Maria Corrêa de Sampaio, partner, Abreu Advogados
Marco Lourenço, executive board member, Caixa – Banco de Investimento
João Paulo Brunet, board member, Banco BNI Europa
Margarida Anselmo, co-head of M&A, Haitong Bank
Presented by Abreu Advogados

5.20pm – 5.45pm Practical guidance on legal team structure and management for in-house counsel

Raquel Azevedo, partner, PLMJ
Natália Rebelo, country legal manager, IKEA Portugal and Board Member for INGKA Centres Portugal, S.A.
Catarina Gonçalves de Oliveira, head of legal and company secretary, Banco CTT

5.45pm – 6.35pm Focus On: Data Protection Concerns for Organisations in Portugal

Joana Pinto, legal lead for Portugal, Angola and Mozambique, Accenture
Pedro Correia, head of legal & compliance, Lusíadas Saúde
Francisco Figueiredo, head of legal, Grupo Arié
Moderated by João Leitão Figueiredo, partner, technology, media and communication, CMS

6.35pm – 6.40pm Closing remarks

6.40pm – 7.30pm Drinks and networking

Speakers

João Leitão Figueiredo, partner, technology, media and communication, CMS

João Leitão Figueiredo is a Partner at TMC – Technology, Media & Communications team at CMS Portugal. With over 15 years’ experience, he is well versed advising a roster of national and international clients in the drafting, negotiation and termination of a wide range of IP/IT agreements (licenses, trademarks, designs, software, outsourcing, distribution agreements, transfers, assignments, etc.), as well as advising on technology, digital transformation and data analytics.

João has been involved in the most significant projects in the Portuguese market, representing large international corporations in cross-border digital transformation and business process development projects as well as IT, business process and industrial outsourcing arrangements. João also advises on cloud computing, audits, data protection & privacy, Internet of Things, E-Commerce & Internet as well as telecommunications regulation. In addition to non-contentious matters, he frequently handles IT disputes in courts of arbitration and public courts. He has also been instrumental in developing the practice of Data Protection in Portugal. His practice covers the full range of commercial activities impacted by Data Protection and IP laws, including the development of companies’ strategy, policies and compliance programs. Recently, he has also been very active supporting various clients in the Implementation of the new Anticorruption and Whistleblowers Protection General Regime.

Assunção Cristas, of counsel - ESG integrated services platform and head of the environment practice, VdA

Assunção joined VdA in 2022 as Of Counsel to head the firm’s ESG Integrated Services Platform and Environment practice area, which encompasses maritime and agriculture related matters.

She is an associate professor at Nova School of Law, where she teaches at the undergraduate level, in addition to acting as coordinator of the Master’s degree in Maritime Law and Economics – The Governance of the Seas, lecturing on Ocean Policies, and as director of NOVA OCEAN, a knowledge centre established in 2021 and dedicated to maritime research. Her areas of research interest are focused on sustainability and legislative architecture and development.

From September 2009 to January 2020, Assunção held several political positions: she was Minister of Agriculture, the Sea, Environment and Land Use Planning (2011-2013) and Minister of Agriculture and the Sea (2013-2015); Member of the Portuguese Parliament (2009-2011 and 2015-2020); President of the political party CDS-PP (2016-2020) and previously Vice-President (2009-2016); and Councilwoman of the Lisbon City Council (2017-2021).

During her term of office as Minister she was responsible for the institutional reorganisation of several areas of administration, participation in the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the Convention, negotiation of the European Common Agricultural Policy reform, and the drafting of structural national legislation, such as the framework law for maritime spatial planning and management. In this field, she led the National Sea Strategy 2013-2020 and was particularly active in the international agenda, having organised and hosted in Lisbon the “Blue Week” (2015) that joined 70 members of governments and multilateral agencies and approved a Declaration on “blue economy”.

In July 2019, Assunção published her book “Confiança. As mulheres, o poder e o país que ambicionamos para todos”, in which she reflects on various issues faced during her ten years in politics, such as the role of women in politics and issues related to the environment, agriculture and the sea.

Assunção is a former Director of the Portuguese Ministry of Justice’s Legislative Policy and Planning Office (2002-2005), where she participated in numerous legislative production processes at both the national level and in the context of international cooperation with Portuguese-speaking countries. From late 2005 to early 2009, she was exclusively dedicated to academia. In addition to her teaching and research work in Private Law, she held several organisational positions.

She regularly attends conferences, both academic and organised by civil society, on topics related to the sea, agriculture and sustainability in general. In this regard, she coordinated the SEDES working group devoted to the Sea, which drafted the report presented at the association’s 50th anniversary congress held in December 2021 and was transformed into an Ocean Observatory.

Assunção is also a member of the World Economic Forum’s Expert Network on the oceans and sustainability.

Raquel Azevedo, partner, PLMJ

Raquel is a partner in the banking and finance and capital markets practice. In her over 15 years of experience, she has focused on capital markets transactions, including public offerings, as IPOs, rights issues and takeovers, governance and regulatory matters of listed companies, M&A of private equity funds, listed companies and financial sector companies, and privatisations. Raquel also has experience in setting up investment funds and in financial regulatory matters.

Before joining PLMJ, she worked in the OTC equity derivatives area at Dresdner Bank AG in London, and as compliance officer at BPI Asset Management, as well as at other law firms.

Rui de Oliveira Neves, partner, Morais Leitao

Rui de Oliveira Neves rejoined the firm as partner in 2021, with responsibility for business transformation to provide a renewed offer of legal services with a strategic and risk management approach focused on advising on transactions, projects and regulatory matters. He also adds a strong focus on sustainability, co-coordinating the firm’s Sustainability practice to respond to ESG and human rights matters.

Between 2013 and 2021, Rui acted at Galp as Director of Legal Affairs and Governance and General Secretary, having also held management positions. Previously, he had developed his career at Morais Leitão, acting as lawyer for 14 years.

In the area of M&A, he was responsible for conducting several of the largest transactions in the Iberian Peninsula, in various sectors, namely energy, telecommunications and transport, highlighting the acquisitions of some of the largest portfolios of renewable assets in the United States and Spain. In capital markets, he has advised on the IPO of one of the world’s largest renewable energy companies, on the reprivatisation of Portugal’s largest utility company, on the reprivatisation of the national TSO, on several tender offers and in other IPOs and reprivatisation processes. Rui is one of the most active lawyers in the area of energy law, with a track record in all areas of the sector, with particular emphasis on international regulatory and transactional experience in the oil and gas industry, in electricity and in renewable energy and new energy solutions as well, namely hydrogen, renewable gases and batteries.

António Neto Alves, legal, compliance and public affairs director & company secretary, The Navigator Company

António Neto Alves, born in Lisbon in 1971, has an LLB from The University of Lisbon School of Law. He started his career as a lawyer in 1994, first working at PLMJ law firm, then moving in-house to Grupo Jerónimo Martins, where he was Legal Director for 11 years. For the last 12 years, António has been at Grupo Navigator, where he holds the position of Legal Director, Compliance and Public Affairs, along with fulfilling the role of Company Secretary. He has two kids, lives and works in Lisbon.

Natália Rebelo, country legal manager, IKEA Portugal and Board Member for INGKA Centres Portugal, S.A.

Natália Rebelo is currently the country legal manager at IKEA Group, where she is responsible for leading, reviewing, supporting and securing the legal aspects of the business and operations. She is also a board member for INGKA Centres Portugal.

In addition, she has been an academic researcher at the NOVA Consumer Lab since March 2020.

Before joining the IKEA Group in April 2019, Natália worked at Lidl Portugal where she started as a legal services co-ordinator and left as a regional property leader.

After graduating from law school in 2009 from Faculdade de Direito da Universidade de Lisboa, she started her career as a legal advisor for Portugal Telecom. During that period, Natalia took her master’s in forensic sciences at Universidade Católica Portuguesa. She also enrolled at Abreu Advogados as a trainee lawyer.

In 2022, Natália completed a post-graduation in consumer law at Universidade de Coimbra, the same year she won an award for best Iberian legal in house counsel 2022 for retail and Ecoomerce with Iberian lawyers.

José Maria Corrêa de Sampaio, partner, Abreu Advogados

José Maria Corrêa de Sampaio is a Partner at Abreu Advogados since 2008, focusing his practice on Corporate and M&A.

Over the past few years he has coordinated a wide range of mergers and acquisitions in Portugal and internationally, with special relevance in banking, insurance and transportation sectors as well as in financing operations. He has experience in the area of commercial law (corporate law and contracts) to which he has dedicated a significant part of his career, as well in finance (financing and restructuring) and litigation (civil and commercial litigation and arbitration proceedings).

He is co-coordinator of the financial law and corporate law practice areas, as well as the banking and financial services at Abreu Advogados. He is also co-coordinator of the Mozambique Desk supporting the interchange with lawyers at Abreu International Legal Solutions in that country.

Marco Lourenço, executive board member of Caixa, Caixa – Banco de Investimento

With a 25-year experience in the investment banking industry, in several financial institutions, Marco Lourenço is an Executive Board Member of Caixa – Banco de Investimento, the investment banking unit of CGD Group, leading the Corporate Finance (M&A) and Equity Capital Markets areas, together with Research and Stock Brokerage. He is also a Non-Executive Board Member of OMIP – Pólo Português and OMI – Polo Español.

Catarina Gonçalves de Oliveira, head of legal and company secretary, Banco CTT

Catarina Gonçalves de Oliveira is currently Head of Legal and Company Secretary at Banco CTT, S.A. (Banco CTT), being responsible for leading, managing, reviewing, supporting, and ensuring all legal aspects of the business, activities, and corporate governance of the company, as well as for the coordination of the legal team in its daily roles and activities and in all sorts of projects and transactions. She focuses her professional practice in commercial, corporate, banking, and financial services law, as well as in corporate governance and M&A.

Before joining Banco CTT in June 2016, she was a Legal Counsel at PLMJ and, previously, at Uría Menéndez – Proença de Carvalho (both in Lisbon and London), having also been seconded as Legal Counsel to the London Branch of ABN AMRO Bank N.V.

After graduating from Law School at Universidade Católica Portuguesa in 2001, she completed a Post-Graduation in Business Administration and Corporate Law, at Nova School of Business and Economics, as well as a Post-Graduation in Securities Law, (Universidade de Lisboa, Faculdade de Direito) / Capital Markets Institute).

Joana Pinto, legal lead for Portugal, Angola and Mozambique, Accenture

Joana Pinto has been the legal director for Portugal, Angola, Mozambique at Accenture since 2007. Before joining Accenture, Joana worked at Capgemini, as a Legal Advisor to the Secretary of State of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and at Sonaecom.

Joana is graduated by Faculdade de Direito, Universidade Católica Portuguesa and has a postgraduation degree in Public Law from Faculdade de Direito, Universidade de Lisboa.

Pedro Correia, head of legal & compliance, Lusíadas Saúde

Pedro Correia is the Head of Legal and Compliance of Lusíadas Saúde. In 2011, he joined the Legal Department of José de Mello Saúde, and in 2018 he assumed the position of Head of Legal & Compliance of the Lusíadas Saúde group. He was a lawyer at Vieira de Almeida for 20 years, where he accumulated a vast consulting experience in various sectors, with special emphasis on the pharmaceutical industry. In recent years he has been a trainer in the modules “Corporate Law” and “Health and Medicinal Products Law” of the Executive MBA of the Autonomous University of Lisbon and was also a speaker in training courses organized by the International Faculty for Executives in matters of health law, medicine and medical devices.

João Paulo Brunet, board member of Banco BNI Europa, BNI Europa

Executive with over 22 years of experience in the financial area, having worked in companies such as Itaú-Unibanco, Santander, Petrobras, Generali Seguros, Tim Brasil, Apolo Tubos e Equipamentos S.A., GPC Química S.A, GBI Capital S.A and PHAROL SGPS SA. He is currently a Board Member of Banco BNI Europa. He has a degree in Economics from Ibmec (Brazil) and a Master’s degree in Economics from Fundação Getulio Vargas

Margarida Anselmo, co-head of M&A, Haitong Bank

Executive with more than 20 years of experience in the financial area, having worked in Espírito Santo Investment Bank (BESI) for 15 years. She has been with Haitong Bank since 2015, currently co-heading the Sino-EU M&A department. She has a degree in Economics from Universidade Nova de Lisboa.

Francisco Figueiredo, head of legal, Grupo Arié

Francisco Figueiredo is Head of Legal of Grupo Arié. The group founded in 1954 is the exclusive distributor for brands of international prestige and renown in the cosmetic and fragrances selective sector and also in fashion sector.

Francisco Figueiredo holds a law degree from the Law School of the Universidade Católica Portuguesa.