Team size: Twelve

Jurisdictions your role covers: Portugal, Moçambique and every other countries where our products are present.

What are the most significant cases or transactions that your legal team has recently been involved in?

Over the past year, our legal and compliance team has been involved in a broad range of high-impact matters, covering regulatory, transactional and governance work. A significant part of our activity has focused on strengthening our compliance framework in response to evolving EU regulation, particularly in areas such as sustainability, digital, and consumer protection. In this context, we have been closely involved in the review and governance of environmental subjects. We have also provided ongoing advice on competition law matters, ensuring alignment with EU rules and internal policies. 

In parallel, we have continued to enhance our integrity and ethics framework, notably through the implementation of a centralised whistleblowing platform designed to simplify reporting processes and strengthen trust and transparency across the organisation. At governance level, we have supported executive decision-making based on key regulatory developments, including cybersecurity obligations under NIS2 and broader compliance maturity topics. On the transactional and disputes side, the team has been actively involved in the negotiation and revision of key commercial agreements, as well as in the management of disputes and potential litigation, working in close coordination with external counsel. 

Overall, our work has combined day-to-day legal support with a strong strategic and preventive focus, ensuring that the business operates within a robust legal and compliance framework while remaining agile in a rapidly evolving regulatory environment.

What do you value most in external advisers working alongside your team: sector knowledge, responsiveness, innovation, or something else? 

What we value most in external advisers is ultimately their ability to act as a true extension of our internal team. Sector knowledge is important, particularly in FMCG, as it allows advisers to anticipate issues and provide pragmatic, business-oriented guidance. However, responsiveness and availability are equally critical, especially in a fast-paced environment where legal input is often required under tight timelines and directly supports commercial decision-making. 

Beyond these elements, we place particular emphasis on judgement and pragmatism. We value advisers who can clearly identify the real legal and regulatory risks, distinguish them from secondary issues, and propose workable solutions aligned with the company’s risk appetite and operational realities. In that sense, clarity of communication is essential—concise, structured advice that facilitates decision-making at executive level is far more valuable than lengthy, overly technical analysis. 

We also increasingly appreciate a proactive and forward-looking approach. This includes keeping us informed of relevant regulatory developments and benchmarking practices in the market. Innovation is welcome, particularly when it translates into more efficient ways of working, whether through better use of technology, or knowledge management. 

Finally, trust and alignment are key. The most valuable external advisers are those who invest time in understanding our business, our strategic priorities and our culture, and who demonstrate consistency, reliability and sound judgement across all matters.

Which recent regulatory or legislative change in Portugal has had the most significant impact on in‑house legal teams, and how have you adapted your approach in response? 

In Portugal, several recent regulatory and legislative developments have had a significant impact on in-house legal teams, reflecting a broader shift towards more demanding, risk-based and governance-driven compliance models. One of the most visible changes has been the transposition of the NIS2 Directive. This has required legal teams to move beyond traditional advisory roles and become closely involved in governance, internal organisation and cross-functional coordination with IT and risk teams. 

At the same time, there has been a growing regulatory focus on sustainability, transparency and consumer protection, driven largely by EU initiatives such as the Green Claims framework and broader ESG-related obligations. These developments have had a very tangible impact, namely as regards industrial operations or environmental claims requiring legal teams to implement stricter validation processes and to work more closely with other areas. 

In parallel, the ongoing strengthening of compliance frameworks in areas such as competition law continues to shape the day-to-day work of in-house teams, requiring a more structured and preventive approach. 

In response to these cumulative changes, our approach has evolved towards a more integrated and proactive model: we have reinforced governance structures, increased board-level engagement on compliance topics, and prioritised cross-functional collaboration to ensure that legal and regulatory requirements are effectively embedded into business processes. More broadly, the role of in-house legal teams is clearly shifting from purely legal interpretation to active participation in risk management and organisational resilience.