About

When she became head of legal and compliance at the Portuguese branch of Volkswagen Bank in 2012, Patrícia Mendes’ first and defining task was the creation of the in-house legal and compliance department in accordance with the headquarters’ guidelines. This was a considerable task as she had to prepare and coordinate the legal procedures to establish the local branch of a company duly incorporated under the laws of Germany and ensure that the business was compliant with all legal regulations in a highly regulated environment. ‘Obtaining the commercial registry and the banking license in Portugal were major milestones while, simultaneously, preparing the launch of a financing business (wholesale, retail business, including consumer credit, and the insurance business) within 16 months of joining the company’ she says. Also part of the management team, Mendes has been actively involved in the implementation of the Volkswagen Financial Services strategy in Portugal. In 2014, she assumed the role of the strategy officer for the Portuguese market, with the mission to coordinate the top down implementation of the headquarters’ business strategy. Since January 2015 Mendes has also been in charge of the legal and compliance department of MAN Financial Services Portugal, a commercial company owned by Volkswagen Group, offering renting of trucks, buses and passenger cars. Before joining Volkswagen, Mendes had worked for ALD Automotive Portugal and SCH Leasing, a Santander company.