Representative offices

The activities of representative offices of credit institutions having their head office abroad are rather limited: they can only look after the interests of the credit institutions which they represent and provide information on the activities in which those institutions intend to participate.

Therefore, representative offices shall not carry out directly transactions that fall within the scope of activity of credit institutions, namely credit granting, taking of deposits or financial intermediation. However, the establishment and operation in Portugal of representative offices of credit institutions having their head office abroad is subject to prior registration with Banco de Portugal, which involves the presentation of a certificate issued by the supervisory authority of the home country.