Following its successfully exit of the bailout of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the European Union (EU) and the European Central Bank (ECB), Portugal is now catching the attention of foreign investors.
Portugal is no longer in the news for bad reasons. Still there are challenges ahead. Portugal needs to reduce historically high levels of Government debt and unemployment and bring its the budget deficit to below 3%.
After implementing a harsh economic program with little social unrest, Portugal is bringing down its chronic trade deficit and correcting some of its imbalances that have hindered its economic growth since the beginning of the millennium.
For international investors looking for a place to invest in Europe, Portugal offers several advantages, of which many investors are not aware. Portugal is an ideal location for nearshoring industrial and services facilities because of its access to Europe's 500 million consumers' market and to the Portuguese-speaking world, which spreads across five continents: Europe, America, Africa, Asia and Oceania.
This paper provides an overview of the opportunities and challenges of doing business in Portugal and reviews the main aspects to be considered by foreign investors considering Portugal as a place to invest as regards the setting up of a business, hiring employees, taxation and government incentives.
Following the end of Portugal's bailout programme by the European Union (EU), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the European Central Bank (ECB), which lasted from May 2011 until June 2014, foreign investors are now looking at Portugal with different eyes.
As part of the bailout programme, Portugal implemented an ambitious privatisation programme and made other reforms to reduce its public debt, attract foreign investment and foster competition in closed or semi-closed sectors.
This guide reviews some of the most important legal aspects regarding takeovers in Portugal.
Opracowanie przygotowane przez Kancelarię Macedo Vitorino & Associados przy współpracy z Wydziałem Promocji Handlu i Inwestycji Ambasady RP w Lizbonie.
In this study we review some legal aspects of the Portuguese privatisation programme and provide an update on forthcoming privatisations .
Przewodnik inwestycyjny opracowany przez Kancelarię Macedo Vitorino & Associados przy współpracy z Wydziałem Promocji Handlu i Inwestycji Ambasady RP w Lizbonie.
Przewodnik inwestycyjny opracowany przez Kancelarię Macedo Vitorino & Associados przy współpracy z Wydziałem Promocji Handlu i Inwestycji Ambasady RP w Lizbonie.
As the financial crisis unfolds, many companies now face situations of distress. The number of insolvencies around the world and in Portugal is increasing.
The purpose of this briefing is to review some of the legal issues concerning the insolvency of Portuguese companies so that creditors and other stakeholders may develop strategies to improve the chances of restructuring the business, if possible, or to mitigate their losses.
This study analyzes the merger control in Portugal. A concentration is the legal combination of two or more undertakings, by the merger between two or more undertakings or by the control acquisition, directly or indirectly, of the whole or parts of one or several other companies.
While such operations may have a positive impact on the market, they may also appreciably restrict competition, by creating or strengthening a dominant position of a player in the national market or in a substantial part of it.
In order to preclude restrictions to competition in the national market, Law 18/2003, of 11 July 2003, as amended by Law 52/2008, of 28 August (the "Competition Law"), establishes several merger control measures. Among these measures, the obligation to give prior notice to the Portuguese competition authority (Autoridade da Concorrência - the "Competition Authority") constitutes a precautionary measure of merger control.
On the other hand, in order to prevent the risk of competition restrictions, the Competition Authority exercises control over planned concentrations with a national dimension and may authorize them subject to conditions or forbid them.
Lastly, the Competition Authority may apply fines to the undertakings that execute mergers which have been suspended or prohibited by the Competition Authority. In these cases, the maximum amount of the fine could be 10% of the aggregate annual turnover of the associated undertakings that have engaged in the prohibited behaviour.