Formerly head of legal at Barclays Portugal, Teresa Mota joined Bankinter following a landmark €175m transaction. ‘Mota was part of Barclays and was crucial to the sale process of its Portugal assets to Bankinter, which she joined at the end of the acquisition process,’ a source clarifies, adding that ‘she had to design and put in place legal solutions featuring high levels of complexity’.

Besides impressing with her expertise in legal management, litigation and corporate governance, during her nearly 20-year period at the business, Mota is recognised for developing and running one of the most well organised legal support function in Portugal’s financial services industry. Prior to joining Barclays in 2001, Mota spent a number of years as an in-house lawyer in the investment banking and commercial divisions of Banif Financial Group. She started her legal career as a trainee lawyer at Pena, Machete & Associados in 1992 after graduating with a law degree from Universidade Católica Portuguesa in 1992. Mota also holds a postgraduate diploma from the Centre for European Studies at the Portuguese Catholic University.