Diogo Pereira Duarte warns of the risk of Portugal falling behind in digital financial reform
Diogo Pereira Duarte took part in the Advisory Summit 2026, organised by Jornal Económico at the Portuguese Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Lisbon, where he joined the panel dedicated to reform in the financial sector.
In his remarks, the lawyer warned of the risk of Portugal losing competitiveness in the digital transformation of the financial sector, at a time when the European Union has been approving a new regulatory framework for areas such as crypto-assets, cybersecurity, digital operational resilience and artificial intelligence.
The Partner at Abreu Advogados highlighted legislation such as MiCA, DORA and the AI Act, stressing that these changes are “not just new layers of compliance”, but developments that affect “the updated framework of businesses themselves”.
Diogo Pereira Duarte argued that Portugal has the conditions to establish itself as a relevant destination for technological investment and financial innovation, but warned that this opportunity depends on political decision-making, strategic vision and greater administrative agility. “There is considerable scope for Portugal to position itself within this framework of technological investment,” he said, adding that “what is lacking is a political decision and strategic vision on the part of public decision-makers”.
During the panel, he also addressed topics such as asset tokenisation and the Digital Euro, highlighting the importance of the latter in strengthening European technological sovereignty and reducing dependence on non-European payment operators.
