António Payan Martins > CMS > Lisbon, Portugal > Lawyer Profile

The team at CMS predominantly assists private sector clients – including financiers, transport concessionaires and multinational energy companies – with project development and finance matters involving Portugal and Portuguese-speaking countries. Co-head Mónica Carneiro Pacheco is a reference in the renewable energy market. Alongside her, the team is led by António Payan Martins, who specialises in project finance, particularly in the infrastructure sector; and Alberto Galhardo Simões, who heads the Lusophone Africa team, advises on projects in the infrastructure, mining and power sectors.

Singled out for its ‘great technical competence and commitment’, CMS assists clients across the banking, finance, real estate, retail, and telecoms sectors, offering comprehensive guidance on both transactional and contentious restructuring and insolvency matters. The practice is jointly helmed by Nuno Pena, who is noted for his expertise in Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive-related issues, and António Payan Martins, a specialist in restructurings, special situations, and transactions involving distressed assets and non-performing loans. Miguel Esperança Pina  has left the firm.

CMS‘s banking and finance team is regularly sought out by domestic and international banks, multilateral institutions, and borrowers for a wide range of mandates. The team’s expertise spans NPL transactions, real estate and acquisition finance, structured products, and financial disputes. Leading the team is António Payan Martins, who specialises in regulatory and antitrust matters in the financial sector. Elsewhere in the team, Francisco Xavier de Almeida  is noted for his extensive experience in special situations, restructuring, and transactions involving distressed assets and NPLs, while Tiago Valente de Oliveira maintains a broad practice, specialising in M&A, commercial law, capital markets, and banking and finance.