| Haitong Bank
Haitong Bank
Key team members:
Filipe Hasse Ferreira, Head of Legal Department
Filipe Hasse Ferreira is the Head of Legal with a global coordination role of Haitong Bank’s legal teams which are located across other jurisdictions (Spain, Poland, Macau and Brazil). Filipe is also in charge for the coordination of the relevant legal issues in the other geographies that Haitong Bank has presence such as France or United Kingdom. As such, Filipe Hasse Ferreira has been responsible, together with the relevant local legal teams, for managing and monitoring the most important legal matters, both in terms of transactions and litigation, in Portugal and other jurisdictions. As Head of Legal and voting member of several Bank’s committees, Filipe has permanent contact with the Bank’s senior management. Filipe Hasse Ferreira was distinguished in three editions of GC Powerlist Iberia (2016, 2018 and 2022), in the edition of GC Powerlist Iberia Teams 2019, and in two editions of GC Powerlist Portugal (2023 and 2024).
David Ramalhete, Executive Director
David Ramalhete has 20 years’ experience in large-scale, complex capital markets, corporate finance and structured finance transactions where Haitong Bank has performed several kind of roles, such as lender, dealer, arranger, subscriber, agent and advisor. David Ramalhete has an active role in the negotiation of contractual documentation and works closely with the relevant departments of Haitong Bank such as Capital Markets, Structured Finance and Corporate Finance. In addition, David Ramalhete has also been responsible to provide legal advisory services to the Bank’s management bodies, committees and control, business and support areas, identifying legal risks and providing advice, on a day to day basis, acting as well as secretary of the Bank’s General Meeting and in several committees.
Cristina Vaz das Neves, Manager
Cristina Vaz das Neves has a lot of experience in dealing with legal matters which involve collective investment undertakings and management entities. Cristina has been responsible for providing assistance to Haitong Global Asset Management, a management company of collective investment undertakings held by Haitong Bank, by advising such entity on governance and regulatory matters. In addition, Cristina has also been actively involved in the governance of Haitong Bank by assisting the management bodies, committees and control, business and support areas, identifying legal risks and providing advice, on a day-to-day basis.
Rogério de Azevedo, Associate
Rogério de Azevedo joined the legal team of Haitong Bank three years ago. Previously, he has worked for more than four years in a reputable Portuguese law firm, with large international footprint, by being involved in several Corporate and Real Estate matters and transactions. Rogério has been actively involved in assisting Haitong Bank’s Audit Committee as its secretary and assisting Haitong Bank’s business, support and control areas, identifying legal risks and providing advice. Rogério graduated from the Faculty of Law at the University of Lisbon in 2009 and has postgraduate studies in securities law.
Sofia Morais, Associate
Sofia Morais recently joined the legal team of Haitong Bank, bringing a strong academic background and a contemporary perspective on corporate law. Sofia graduated from the Faculty of Law at the University of Lisbon in 2020 and holds a master’s degree in Corporate and Labour Law from ISCTE – University Institute of Lisbon. Sofia’s academic and professional journey reflects a clear focus on delivering strategic legal support in corporate settings.
Ana Paula Costa, Team Assistant
Ana Paula Costa is the Legal Department’s team assistant for the last four years and has worked in Haitong Bank for almost 30 years. For more than 20 years, Ana Paula has been the team assistant of the Bank’s Corporate Finance and Clients Relationship Management Departments, which allowed her to have an overview of the Bank’s business activities and a close contact with the main clients of the Bank. Over the years, Ana Paula has experienced and participated in the most significant changes in the Bank. Ana Paula’s deep knowledge of all areas of the Bank and the practicalities of an in-house function and its comprehensive understanding of the investment bank business and its clients has been fundamental for an effective and expedite advise given by the legal department to all areas of the Bank and to a smooth communication with the colleagues located overseas.
Team size: Six
Not directly quote their responses (edit/modify them):
What are the most significant cases or transactions that your legal team has recently been involved in?
The Legal Team supports Haitong Bank across various Corporate and Project Finance transactions, handling documentation for both primary and secondary market deals. This includes drafting and reviewing facility, security, transfer, and ancillary agreements. They are also active in capital markets transactions – public and private – primarily involving Portuguese issuers, with the Bank acting as placement agent, subscriber, or arranger.
In Corporate Finance and M&A advisory work, the team prepares and reviews financial service agreements, while also managing litigation cases across Portugal and other jurisdictions. The team coordinates closely with local legal teams in regions such as Spain, Poland, Macau, and Brazil, ensuring oversight and alignment. In-house legal work at an investment bank is highly specialised and demands tailored solutions, requiring ongoing attention to legal and market developments.
How does your team contribute to the overall business strategy of the company? Can you share an example of a recent legal-led initiative that had a significant impact?
The Legal Team works closely with all areas of the Bank—corporate bodies, business units, control, and support teams, to address their needs efficiently. Client satisfaction shapes their approach, ensuring transactions are legally sound and aligned with the Bank’s interests.
Given the fast-paced nature of investment banking, the team focuses on quick turnaround times and precise contractual terms that reflect the parties’ intentions at every stage of a deal. Their core contribution lies in supporting the Bank’s strategy by providing responsive, tailored legal solutions that serve both internal stakeholders and clients.
"Filipe Hasse Ferreira, Head of Legal, leads a highly competent legal department and excels in handling complex transactions. His expertise and ability to navigate challenging legal issues make him and his team exceptional partners." "The legal team at Haitong Bank, led by Filipe Hasse Ferreira, with many years of experience, has supported the bank since the original transition to new ownership, showing a consistent and steady contribution to the bank’s operations and successes, and very much act as trusted advisors across the business. Very practical and solution oriented, they help de-complicate complex matters, showing forethought and an important sense of purpose. They work extremely productively with external counsel, knowing what questions to ask and giving the required support that is always necessary. Their constant involvement in the bank’s activities makes them invaluable in the organization. "
"Haitong Bank’s legal team, headed by Filipe Hasse Ferreira, is rather professional and provides certainly much valuable services to the bank. We feel rather well placed to testify this, as we also operate under a secondment arrangement for all their derivatives desk and support many of their primary activities in the market, as well as many secondary acquisitions of credit positions in various jurisdictions across the world. One of the great challenges Haitong’s legal team faces brilliantly is precisely the ability to escort the bank’s activities in many jurisdictions, orchestrating the legal sides of the relationships with an Asian shareholder, a Continental European regulator, the activity in Portugal and in branches existing namely in Spain and the UK, with many credit or derivative transactions contracted under laws of these jurisdictions as well as under US law. Only a rather skillful and professional team can combine all these requirements and support the bank’s activities under such high standard requirements. "
"I have worked several times in the past with Filipe Hasse Ferreira. He is a highly respected and dedicated professional, and I find his expertise and leadership truly outstanding, with a deep knowledge of banking and corporate law, strategic thinking, and attention to detail. His approachable nature and collaborative spirit foster a positive and productive working environment, not only within the bank, but also with external advisers. He is able to navigate complex legal challenges with calm precision and sound judgment, inspiring trust across all departments. Always forward-thinking and detail-oriented, he adds immense value to every discussion and decision. "
"The legal department at Haitong Bank, led by the esteemed Dr. Filipe Hasse Ferreira, is, in my view, of exceptionally high quality, setting it apart from the majority of legal departments. There are several reasons why this is the case. First, the fact that Haitong Bank positions itself in the market as an investment bank means that the legal department engages in a much more diverse and complex range of activities than would be the case in a large retail bank. Furthermore, the qualitative demands in an investment bank are much higher, precisely because there is no massification. For example, the quality and complexity of contracts tend to be very high. Second, the Director of the Legal Department and at least some of its members have extensive and in-depth experience as practicing lawyers in civil and commercial litigation. This provides them with a perspective on legal reality that I find absolutely essential to anticipating contractual issues and planning possible solutions. In other words, litigation experience makes them, in my view, unquestionably superior to pure desk-bound lawyers when it comes to drafting contracts. That same experience also enables the team to manage conflicts from the outset with exceptional skill: choosing carefully what is said and what is not said, with an eye on the potential future judicialization of the conflict. Finally, this legal department possesses a meta-legal dimension that I would like to highlight. Its members are cultured individuals - they are interested in reading, listening to music, going to the theatre, discussing ideas. This trait makes them more interesting as human beings. But this facet is also very important in the practice of law, as it influences how one interprets, thinks, and writes. In summary, this is a department of extraordinary technical quality, seasoned by litigation, and with human and cultural qualities that manifest professionally. This is the result of the person and the effort of its Director, Dr. Filipe Hasse Ferreira. "
| Haitong Bank
The Haitong Bank legal team has provided assistance to support the organisation in several capital markets transactions, either private or public placements, mainly with Portuguese and Chinese issuers under which...
