Latest news and stories about banking in government in Portugal for expats and residents.
Banco de Portugal will eliminate the role of Board of Directors consultants. Mário Centeno, already in Miami for a new professional phase, was the first to agree to his departure, with an early retirement package improved and compensated by Banco de Portugal through the pension fund.
Mário Centeno was a few months away from meeting one of the criteria that would have allowed him to request a 'normal' retirement at the Banco de Portugal, but the process was accelerated by the institution itself after it presented him with a proposal with immediate effect, as first reported by ECO. This meant that, instead of...
It is a tradition for government officials to attack bankers. The Minister of Economy recently did so, showing little memory of what led us to the 2011 crisis.
The Banco de Portugal pension fund that will pay for Mário Centeno's retirement has over 1.6 billion euros in financial assets, mostly invested in public debt, but also in real estate and stocks. These assets covered 105% of its liabilities to beneficiaries, a list that includes...
Hefesto, BCP, and Intrum lead the podium of 82 companies that filed the most lawsuits in Portugal in 2025. Large litigants pay an increased fee, but the number remains constant. The government is reviewing court costs.
André Ventura, leader of the Chega party, has summoned the Governor of the Bank of Portugal (Banco de Portugal), Álvaro Santos Pereira, to explain a pension agreement for his predecessor. The controversy involves former governor Mário Centeno, who reportedly reached a deal to retire at 59 with a pension nearly equal to his full salary of approximately 20,000 euros per month. Residents should note this follows reports of a “hidden agreement” regarding the early retirement.
André Ventura, born January 15, 1983, is a lawyer, academic, and Portugal's most prominent far-right leader. He founded Chega ("Enough") in 2019 after his PSD mayoral campaign attacked the Romani community. Chega surged from 1.3% in 2019 to 22.8% in May 2025, becoming parliament's second-largest party and making Ventura Leader of the Opposition.
His platform emphasizes immigration restrictions, law-and-order policies, constitutional reform, and contains inflammatory anti-Romani rhetoric that has triggered multiple discrimination convictions and investigations. Politically classified as far-right by international media, Ventura cultivates alliances with European far-right figures including Marine Le Pen and Santiago Abascal.
He announced his 2026 presidential candidacy, polling at 18% alongside independent Admiral Gouveia e Melo. His rise ended Portugal's 50-year resistance to far-right parties.
Mário Centeno is a Portuguese economist and politician who served as Finance Minister from 2015 to 2020 and as President of the Eurogroup from 2018 to 2020, and later became Governor of the Bank of Portugal (Banco de Portugal). His nomination for vice‑president of the European Central Bank matters because a senior Portuguese official at the ECB could influence euro‑area monetary policy decisions that affect interest rates and the economy in Portugal.
Chega ("Enough") is a Portuguese far-right populist party founded in 2019 by André Ventura. It positions itself as an anti-establishment movement against what it calls a "rotten and corrupt system" of PS-PSD dominance. The party surged from 1.3% in 2019 to 22.8% in May 2025, becoming parliament's second-largest force with 60 seats. Chega's core platform emphasizes strict immigration control—ending automatic CPLP residency, deporting non-independent immigrants, implementing job-market quotas, and requiring five-year social security contributions before benefit access. It advocates radical constitutional reform, including reducing parliament to 100 members, abolishing the prime minister position for a presidential system, and dismantling public healthcare. Law-and-order policies include life imprisonment and chemical castration proposals.
The party is defined by inflammatory anti-Romani rhetoric, with Ventura convicted multiple times for discrimination. Chega maintains international alignments with European far-right figures including Marine Le Pen, Santiago Abascal, and Matteo Salvini. Mainstream Portuguese parties, including Prime Minister Luís Montenegro's government, have imposed a cordon sanitaire, refusing coalition with Chega despite its parliamentary strength.
Mário Centeno signed an agreement with Banco de Portugal this week to retire. After a 35-year career at the institution, the former governor accepted a retirement proposal initiated by the bank, now led by Álvaro Santos Pereira. Centeno served as governor of Banco de Portugal from 2020 to 2025 and was currently working as a consultant for the institution with a gross monthly salary of nearly 17,000 euros. For now, the former governor will focus on teaching; according to the digital newspaper Eco, he will spend the next three weeks as a visiting professor at the University of Miami before returning to ISEG. Mário Centeno, who served as Minister of Finance from 2015 to 2020, was a candidate for the vice-presidency of the ECB but withdrew in January due to a lack of sufficient support. The position was ultimately filled by the Croatian Boris Vujčić. Meanwhile, direct elections for the Socialist Party (PS) conclude this Saturday with Carneiro's re-election guaranteed, and Deco advises families to adopt a more strategic approach to budget management.
The former Minister of Finance and former governor of the Bank of Portugal has accepted the institution's proposal and will retire, reports Eco.
Centeno leaves the Banco de Portugal after 20 years and having reached an agreement on his departure. He is expected to dedicate himself to university teaching now.
Mário Centeno's long career at the Bank of Portugal has come to an end. After more than two decades as a staff member of the institution – having served as Governor between 2020 and 2025 – he signed the agreement this week that allows him to retire, ceasing his work at the bank. As ECO has learned, Centeno has already...
The Government's legislation, which creates new rules for the securitisation of bank credits, was published this Thursday in the Diário da República and is now in effect. At issue is a decree-law created by the executive of Luís Montenegro (PSD and CDS-PP) that amends decree-law no. 453/99, of 5 November, which establishes the regime...
The Government decree creating new rules for bank credit securitisation was published today in the Diário da República and is now in effect.
Francisca Guedes de Oliveira recalls the sector's role during the pandemic and the storms that hit Portugal at the beginning of the year, affirming the importance of banks for families and companies to get back on track.
Francisca Guedes de Oliveira pointed out that the world is “undergoing rapid transformation” and that the banking sector gains importance in these circumstances.
Francisca Guedes de Oliveira, an administrator at the Bank of Portugal, argued this Wednesday that, in a context of rapid transformation, supervision must keep pace with the changes seen in the banking sector by strengthening the ability to identify new risks. 'In a rapidly transforming financial system, supervision must keep up with this change, reinforcing the...'
Under the theme of adapting, innovating, and leading, the Banking on Change conference brought several discussion panels to the Belém Cultural Centre (CCB) regarding the challenges and opportunities for the banking sector. The initiative featured an opening speech by the Minister of Finance, Joaquim Miranda Sarmento. Among the guest speakers were also...
Finance Minister Joaquim Miranda Sarmento argued this Wednesday that the banking sector played a 'decisive' role in operationalising the support measures taken in the wake of the storms that hit the country, noting that their involvement allowed resources to reach businesses. 'Banks are, naturally, a fundamental partner for companies and the economy...'
The Portuguese Banking Association explains that banks have been granting less credit to companies because there are fewer requests. The president, Vítor Bento, also criticises the statements made by the Minister of Economy.
Executives from major Portuguese banks stated on Tuesday, the 10th, that the sector is prepared for shocks resulting from the war in Iran, citing recent experiences and increased institutional resilience. Leaders from Caixa Geral de Depósitos, Millennium BCP, Santander, BPI, Crédito Agrícola, and Montepio emphasized the importance of risk management, capital liquidity, and adaptability in the face of global volatility, energy price hikes, and potential disruptions to the Strait of Hormuz.
Paulo Macedo considered that companies in many sectors “showed great resilience and had good years” in 2024 and 2025.
Gonçalo Regalado, president of the Banco Português de Fomento, says the institution had 'the best year of its historical production' in his first year in office. However, everything is done with 'prudence'.
Banco de Fomento plans to place over 20 billion euros in guarantees in the market this year, as stated by the CEO. The initiative comes in response to a slower economy, with a goal to recover losses incurred over the past two years within the next ten months.
Thirteen years after the US fund Lone Star used a strategy to monetise a state-backed bank stake in Portugal (Novo Banco) — reportedly pocketing about €5bn while exiting without major penalties — South Korea intervened to stop the same playbook from succeeding at a Korean bank backed by public support. The episode highlights divergent regulatory outcomes across jurisdictions: stronger Korean safeguards and political scrutiny protected the public interest and state budget, while Portuguese arrangements enabled a lucrative, low-accountability exit for a private investor. The contrast underscores how supervision, takeover rules and fiscal exposure shape investor returns and public risk in cross-border bank restructurings.
