Legal Support for Credit Intermediaries

Banco de Portugal has a legal deadline of 90 days to decide on the application, which can be extended to 180 days if additional clarifications or documents are requested. Including the document preparation phase, the full process typically takes 3 to 6 months.

Natural persons may only apply as tied or ancillary credit intermediaries. The non-tied category is reserved for legal persons (article 18 of Decree-Law 81-C/2017). If you choose a legal entity, it can already be established or be set up after authorisation — in that case, you have 6 months to submit the registration request to Banco de Portugal (article 25).

The required documents vary depending on the type of applicant, under Banco de Portugal Notice 6/2017. Generally required: identification document, up-to-date criminal record certificate, individual questionnaire, description of training and professional background with training certificates, professional civil liability insurance policy and, for companies, articles of association, description of the organisational structure and documents for the members of the corporate bodies. We help prepare everything.

No. Credit intermediation activity may only be carried out after official registration with Banco de Portugal. Practising without authorisation constitutes an administrative offence, punishable by a fine and possible temporary prohibition from exercising the activity, under DL 81-C/2017.

There are three categories (article 8 of DL 81-C/2017): tied credit intermediary (binding agreement with a lender or group of lenders that does not represent the majority of the market), non-tied credit intermediary (legal entity acting independently) and ancillary credit intermediary (complementary to another main activity). Each category has specific requirements.

After authorisation, there are ongoing obligations: annual renewal of professional civil liability insurance, maintenance of certified training of those involved, periodic information reporting to Banco de Portugal, and compliance with conduct duties. The authorisation may be revoked for non-compliance.