The main purposes of Portuguese insolvency are to promote the rehabilitation of insolvent businesses through restructuring and, when that is not possible, to provide the best possible satisfaction of the creditors through the liquidation the company's assets.
The Portuguese insolvency code is among the most advanced insolvency laws in Europe and the world. According to the World Bank's report "Doing Business 2015", Portugal ranks in 10th place in the world (4th in the European Union) on ease of resolving insolvency, which measures the speed, cost and recovery rates in insolvencies in 189 countries.
In this publication we provide practical advice to companies and creditors to help them in a Portuguese corporate insolvency procedure and to negotiate a business restructuring. Here are a seven tips for negotiating a corporate restructuring in Portugal:
1. Before filing to the insolvency always obtain a reliable financial analysis and consider your chances of recovery in a restructuring liquidation proceeding.
2. Be prepared. Be sure to have a reliable resolvability analysis of the company to calculate all the financial repercussions. Be sure that there is a legal basis for having the company declared insolvent.
3. Evaluate your position. Confirm your credit ranking and those of other creditors and try to evaluate your position among the creditors and other stakeholders.
4. Be available for an out-of-court composition. Do not rely on your legal position and do not put a company into insolvency without exhausting all possibilities of an out-of-court arrangement. If an out-of-court arrangement is not possible, try to enter into a Portuguese "revitalization" arrangement.
5. Be involved in the decision-making process, seek to be appointed to the Creditors' Committee, which is in charge of overseeing the restructuring procedure. Be proactive in the restructuring negotiations with the other creditors and the company.
6. Be vigilant. Create a direct line with the Administrator. Evaluate critically each of the steps taken by the Administrator to ensure that the process is managed in a proper and efficient manner.
7. Follow the liquidation closely. Make sure that assets are sold for fair consideration.
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.