PORTUGAL Law and Practice Contributed by: Leonor Futscher de Deus, Broseta Abogados, SLP
• conducts insurance distribution as its main profes- sional activity; • must have a minimum share capital of EUR5,000; • subject to professional qualification and profes- sional indemnity insurance; • must have at least one establishment open to the public; • registration application at the ASF must be filed by an insurer; and • the ASF will grant authorisation within 60 days of receiving the application or, where applicable, after receiving any additional information from the applicant. Broker • acts on behalf of customers; • must have financial services as its exclusive corpo- rate purpose; • must have a minimum share capital of EUR50,000; • subject to professional qualification and profes- sional indemnity insurance; • must submit an activity programme to the ASF for three years; • must have organised accounting; • must have a risk analyst in the event it pursues non-life branches; • must have at least one establishment open to the public; • subject to portfolio diversification according to specific rules; • registration application at the ASF is filed by the broker itself; and • the ASF will grant authorisation within 90 days of receiving the application or, where applicable, after receiving any additional information from the applicant. Bancassurance Banks are not subject to a special framework, apart from the fact that they cannot be registered as ancil- lary insurance intermediaries, further to the IDD. Banks are usually registered as agents. The bancas- surance channel has significant weight in the Portu- guese market. EU-Based Intermediaries Any EU-based insurance intermediary that wishes to act in Portugal under FoS or FoE must firstly notify the
supervisory authorities of its home member state of its intention. These authorities will then communicate this information to the ASF. The ASF will communicate to the supervisory authori- ties of the home member state the general good pro- visions to be complied with when acting in Portugal. Alternatively, the ASF will direct said authorities to the hyperlink where said information is available. The intermediary may start business: • under FoS, from the date on which it is informed by the supervisory authority of the home member state about the communication provided to the ASF; or • as a branch, from the date on which the supervi- sory authority of the home member state receives said communication from the ASF or within one month if no communication is received (provided the branch is registered in the Companies Register and with the tax authorities and social security). General good provisions The pursuit of insurance distribution activities in Por- tugal under an EU passport is subject to compliance with several rules considered of general good, as determined by the ASF and disclosed on its website. 6. Making an Insurance Contract 6.1 Obligations of the Insured and Insurer Policyholder/Insured The Insurance Contract Law has adopted a system based on the policyholder/insured’s risk disclosure statement. The policyholder and/or insured is/are obliged to disclose accurately, before the conclu- sion of any policy, all the facts that they are aware of and that are likely to have an impact on the risk assessment by the insurer (risk disclosure obligation). Said obligation will apply regardless of whether the insurer asks them to fill in a questionnaire in which such circumstances are specifically addressed. This obligation remains applicable throughout the life of the policy.
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