Part III Civil Law Legal Systems, 9 Portugal

Subject(s):

Civil liability of lenders — Regulatory liability of lenders — Bank resolution and insolvency — Bank supervision — Capital markets — Supervision

Tortious liability of financial supervisors (including those that exercise resolution functions) in Portugal is governed by the specific tort law regime applicable to the state and other public entities in Portugal. The liability criteria provided for the tortious liability regime for the state and other public entities are largely aligned with general tort liability rules, notwithstanding some important differences in several requirements. The chief purpose of this chapter is to discuss and evaluate in practice the tortious liability of financial supervisors having regard of the institutional supervisory model adopted in Portugal, which includes the Bank of Portugal (Banco de Portugal, which is simultaneously the central bank and the financial supervisor for the banking sector, for as much as this competence is retained at national level vis-à-vis the Single Supervisory Mechanism, with resolution functions), the Portuguese Insurance and Pension Funds Authority (Autoridade de Seguros e Fundos de Pensões), and the Portuguese Securities Market Commission (Comissão de Mercado de Valores Mobiliários).