Team size: Five

Jurisdictions your role covers: Portugal, Spain, Mozambique and Poland

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

Last year, the team focused on adapting to the DORA regulation, which required the Bank to enter into amendments with almost all its providers. Other priorities included compliance with accessibility rules, as well as the new advertising guidelines issued by the Bank of Portugal. This had a physical impact on branches, but also a digital one, on the Bank’s website and app. The legal department remained particularly concerned with data protection and banking secrecy issues, and was responsible for providing training on these matters. More recently, cybersecurity remains a priority, with a new document classification system being implemented, and we are also keeping a close eye on the Omnibus package regarding ESG matters.

How has the role of the legal function evolved within your organisation over recent years, and where do you see it adding the most strategic value today? 

The Bank’s legal department has evolved significantly over the last few years. Around 10 years ago, there was a single senior in-house lawyer who liaised with external solicitors; over the last few years, the team has grown in response to the need for faster, more specialised responses from those with a deeper understanding of the Bank’s operations and the other departments. I realise this is a phrase that has been repeated many times, but it applies perfectly to our team: we have moved from being ‘obstacles’ and people who identified regulatory impossibilities for developing a business, to being ‘partners’ and ‘discoverers’ of possible regulatory solutions so that new and better business can be done and the Bank’s activity can grow. The legal teams have become, perhaps even more so than Compliance, allies of the commercial departments, working to develop safe and sound models that enable good business.

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 each of the most recent years, there have been legislative developments at both European and national level that have shaped our activities. As I mentioned in my initial response, last year focused on cyber resilience and DORA, as well as on the accessibility package for all types of customers with physical disabilities and on advertising regulations; in previous years, the focus was more centred on ESG and environmental concerns, as well as on good governance rules, with an impact on the Bank of Portugal’s notice regarding internal control, but also on the EBA’s guidelines on sound and prudent remuneration rules. There have also been constant developments in the field of AML, and we work in a sector that is constantly changing, requiring permanent study, attention and care.