Francisco Patrício takes part in JE Advisory conference focused on insolvencies

Member of the Board of Directors and partner at Abreu Advogados Francisco Patrício noted today that SMEs have few innovative mechanisms in Portugal, advocating alternative support measures for company restructuring and greater flexibility on the part of creditors, particularly the Tax Authority and Social Security.

Francisco Patrício was speaking at a Jornal Económico Advisory conference on ‘Insolvencies and the difficulty of making mistakes in Portugal’, which took place this morning in Lisbon.

He also noted that the fact that both the Tax Authority and Social Security have very little flexibility, as creditors of more than 90 per cent of companies in economic difficulty in Portugal, is no match for the challenges these companies face in times of distress.

The Abreu Advogados partner believes that the bank’s current mechanisms for restructuring and insolvency are outdated and gave the example that in Portugal there is no secondary market or bond issues with small companies, unlike in other countries.

Issues such as the existence of a complex regulatory framework with too many laws, as well as tax reversals and widespread qualification incidents were also at the centre of the debate.

The conference included the presentation of the study ‘IN_Solvens: The Perspective of Companies and the Reality of Insolvency and Pre-Insolvency Proceedings’, by João Pedro Pinto-Ferreira, researcher and professor at NOVA School of Law, and the participation on the panel of António Emílio Pires, President of the Portuguese Association of Judicial Administrators, and Gonçalo Simões de Almeida, Vice-President of ANJE – National Association of Young Entrepreneurs.