Portugal announces creation of development bank

Portugal’s new development bank, Instituição Financeira do Desenvolvimento (Financial Development Institution –
IFD), is due to start operating this year with starting capital of 100 million euros, the Portuguese government said last week. IFD, which has already received a banking license from the Bank of Portugal, is a publicly owned bank focused on financing small and medium-sized companies. At the end of the meeting of the Council of Ministers, the Minister for the Economy, António Pires de Lima, said the bank “will bring together a number of public bodies responsible for activating the economy and for the management of EU funds.” The board of the new bank will have between seven and nine members including between two and four executives as well as three fixed members on the audit board. The new bank will be headquartered in the city of Porto and “is subject to the supervision of the Bank of Portugal.”