2016-05-13

Travelling to Portugal and you are not an EU Schengen State resident?

You will need a travelling visa to cross the Portuguese border, and a temporary residence permit, if you stay for more than 60 days. To live in Portugal you must have a permanent residency permit.

Find in this paper a quick guide to obtain these permits.

2016-04-12

La vente en viager se présente comme une forme de vente d’un bien immobilier avec un potentiel de développement dans les années à venir, étant donné que les principaux sujets visés par cette figure sont les personnes âgées qui souhaitent vendre son logement à fin d’assurer un complément de revenu de retraite.

La vente d’un bien immobilier contre le paiement d’une rente viagère comprend, surtout, le transfert de la propriété pour un tiers qui se charge de payer une rente viagère au vendeur.

Le contrat repose sur un pari sur la longévité du vendeur car l'acheteur doit verser une rente au vendeur jusqu'à la date de son décès, ce que les parties ignorent à la date de la transaction. Par conséquent, ce contrat se caractérise par son aléa, comprenant, simultanément, une opportunité de profit et un risque de perte.

Avec cette présentation, nous voulons faire connaître la figure de la vente en viager, une forme de vente d’immeubles peu répandue au Portugal.

 

2016-03-30

The Portuguese Government launched the Residence Permit for Investment Activity programme (ARI), in 2012. This program known as Golden Visa, is a quick solution for investors from outside the Schengen area to obtain a residence permit in Portugal.

This plan includes new rules on the awarding of residence permits for investment activity, known as “golden visa”, to citizens of non-European Union (EU) countries that wish to make a significant investment in Portugal and meet certain requirements.

The “golden visas” grant their holders the right to free circulation in Portugal and in the rest of Schengen area countries. In addition to general requirements applicable to residence permits, “golden visas” require their holders to undertake the obligation of investing in Portugal of certain minimum amounts for a minimum period.

In this paper, you will find an outline of the opportunities of living in Portugal and of the main aspects to be thought-out by everybody considering Portugal as a place to live.

2016-03-11

2016 will be a defining year in the Portuguese telecommunications’ market. A series of events in the period 2013-2015 brought severe changes to the sector: the merger of ZON and Optimus resulting in NOS, the change of ownership of PT, and also of Onitelecom and Cabovisão.

Commercially, we witnessed an increased bet in multiple play, the entrance of Vodafone in the fixed markets and technology investment by all major operators in.

According to OECD statistics Portugal is today ranked in the top 20 countries in the world with more use of fibre optic technologies but service providers are still employing aggressive market strategies in obtaining new customers and are also increasing their bets in technology markets such as bid data, cloud storage and the internet of things.

This report provides the readers with a brief overview of the market and its four major market players as well as a review of the Portuguese telecommunications’ legal framework.

2016-03-08

Angola is a leading trading partner in sub-Saharan Africa and has several agreements with the US, which have facilitated trade between both nations. A lot of Angola’s success up to recently is owed to US investment in the Angolan oil and energy sectors.

This African country is ranked as one of the hardest to do business in, as such, understandably, investment in its markets would have to  be  a  well  thought  and  pondered  decision,  taking  into  account  the  level  of  government intervention  and  potential corruption issues. 

However, in spite of the difficult time Angola is going through as a result of the crude declining prices, significant  business  opportunities  may  lay ahead in “one of the fastest growing markets in Africa”.

In this report, we will analyze from an US invertors’ standpoint the basic legal issues and mechanics of investing in Angola as well as several reasons to consider investing in the Angolan power (hydroelectric), construction (railways, roads and housing) and agricultural sector (coffee production), just to mention some of the sectors where there is potential for investment in this Portuguese speaking country.

2016-03-03

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 continue reducing its budget deficit still perilously close to 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.

Portugal has a proven track record of successful foreign investments across a wide range of sectors.

Investors that are considering Portugal as a place to invest want to know the hard facts about the country and not the stereotypes associated with the country and its people.

Autoeuropa, Volkswagen’s Portuguese auto-plant, is one of its most productive plants. Nokia Siemens Networks chose Portugal to install its new Global Networks Solutions Center. Microsoft, Colt, Ikea have also successfully invested in Portugal in recent years.

Portugal has one of the most favourable business environments in the world. The World Bank's "Doing Business 2016" Report ranks Portugal in the top 25 of the world’s – 11th  in the EU – most attractive locations to do business.

WhyPortugal 2016 aims to show international businesses and institutional investors,  private equities and industry players considering Portugal as a location to invest in Europe.

This report 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.

2015-11-06

Renewable energy sources ("RES") play an important role in the energy mix of the future. The requirements set for climate preservation, the increase in energy consumption and the limited life of fossil fuels have been taken into account by European Institutions and countries in order to stop the vicious circle of energy consumption and climate changes.

Portugal has been one of the most enthusiastic countries as regards renewable energies.

This study deals with the alternative renewable energy sources in Portugal, such as wind sun, biomass and ocean waves. It describes their legal framework giving special attention to the Portuguese windfarm industry.

2015-07-17

 Portugal offers "non-habitual" residents the opportunity to become tax residents in Portugal and benefit from a more favourable tax regime in relation to certain Portuguese and foreign sources income.

2015-07-07

The Portuguese residence permits for investment, known as golden visa, offer citizens of non-European Union (EU) countries who invest in Portugal the opportunity to obtain a residence permit in Portugal.

The purchase of property in Portugal with a minimum value of €500,000 is the most used of all eligible forms of investment required under the golden visa program.

The holders of golden visa may also obtain residence permits for their families and, subject to compliance with certain requirements, apply for the granting of a non-permanent resident special taxation condition, which offers a reduced income tax rate.

Golden visa have become very popular with international investors immediately following its approval in 2012 given the low level of investment required, the straightforward application requirements and other advantages that are described in this paper.

2015-05-19

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.