National Council of Financial Supervisors

The increasing integration and interdependence of the different financial sectors has strengthened the need for enhanced coordination and articulation among the three national financial supervisory authorities, through a common approach to intersectoral issues, the establishment of structured communication channels among the three authorities and the elimination of potential conflicts of competences or regulatory gaps.

For this purpose, Decree-Law No 228/2000 of 23 September 2000 established a forum for supervisory coordination: the Conselho Nacional de Supervisores Financeiros – CNSF (National Council of Financial Supervisors). Its permanent members are the Governor of the Banco de Portugal, who chairs, the member of the Board of Directors of the Banco de Portugal responsible for the supervision, the Chairman of the Comissão do Mercado de Valores Mobiliários – CMVM (Securities Market Commission) and the Chairman of the Instituto de Seguros de Portugal – ISP (Portuguese Insurance Institute).

Without prejudice to the powers and autonomy of the authorities which comprise the CNSF, the functions of this Council include the coordination among authorities as well as of the monitoring and assessment of developments regarding the stability of the financial system.

CNSF conducts public consultations on initiatives within its fields of competence, namely regarding draft regulations.

CNSF meets at least every two months. In general, the topics on the agenda of CNSF meetings are prepared by working groups set up for this purpose within the three entities. Their reports are submitted to the CNSF together with draft decisions or suggestions for action.

Information on the activities of the CNSF is not available in English, please refer to the original version in Portuguese.