Insolvency 2025

PORTUGAL Law and Practice Contributed by: Manuel Magalhães, Mafalda Ferreira Santos, Francisco Boavida Salavessa and Maria José Lourenço, Sérvulo & Associados

Sérvulo & Associados Rua Garrett, 64 1200-204 Lisbon Portugal Tel: +351 210 933 000

Fax: +351 210 933 001/2 Email: geral@servulo.com Web: servulo.com

1. Overview of Legal and Regulatory System for Insolvency/Restructuring/ Liquidation 1.1 Legal Framework Within the Portuguese jurisdiction, the most relevant statutes governing financial restructurings, reorgani - sations, liquidations and insolvencies of business enti - ties are: • the Insolvency and Recovery Code ( Código da Insolvência e da Recuperação de Empresas , or CIRE) (Decree-Law No 53/2004); • the Extra-Judicial Regime for Corporate Recovery ( Regime Extrajudicial de Recuperação de Empre- sas , or RERE) (Law No 8/2018), which provides a specific legal regime for out-of-court recovery agreements; • the regime for converting credits into capital cre - ated by Law No 7/2018 of 2 March; and • Regulation (EU) 2015/848 of the European Parlia - ment and of the Council, adopted on 20 May 2015, on insolvency proceedings, establishing co-ordina - tion mechanisms and rules on conflicts of law for cross-border transactions. In addition, note should be taken of the rules on the voluntary dissolution and liquidation of companies, and on directors’ duties within insolvency/restructur - ing procedures established by the Companies Code, as well as some specific regimes applicable in certain sectors, particularly financial, such as: • the General Regime for Credit Institutions and Financial Companies (Decree-Law No 298/92);

• the Regime for Voluntary and Compulsory Liq - uidation of Credit Institutions (Decree-Law No 199/2006); • the General Regime on the taking-up and pursuit of the business of insurance and reinsurance (Law No 147/2015); • the Asset Management Regime (Decree-Law No 27/2023); and • the Regulation on markets in crypto-assets (Regu - lation (EU) 2023/1114 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 31 May 2023). 1.2 Types of Insolvency Voluntary Proceedings The relevant voluntary proceedings provided for in the Portuguese legal system are: • the Special Revitalisation Proceeding ( Processo Especial de Revitalização , or PER); • the Extra-Judicial Regime for Corporate Recovery ( Regime Extrajudicial de Recuperação de Empre- sas , or RERE); and • the Special Procedure for Payment Agreement ( Processo Especial para Acordo de Pagamento , or PEAP). These proceedings require the debtor’s initiative, as well as the engagement of (some) creditors. Insol - vency proceedings may also be voluntary, if initiated by the debtor. Involuntary Proceedings Insolvency proceedings are involuntary when com - menced through the intervention of the following, regardless of the debtor’s initiative:

398 CHAMBERS.COM