What are the most significant cases or transactions that your legal team has recently been involved in?

Citi was one of the first international banks to be established in Portugal with a local banking license, after the opening of the financial sector in 1985. Citibank Europe operates in 21 countries across Europe with a single point of entry for banking and other products and services and it is represented in Portugal by its local Lisbon branch. Citi operates exclusively as an institutional clients business in Portugal, covering major companies, financial institutions, public sector, and subsidiaries of foreign multinational companies. The legal team is involved in all local transactions, advisory, regulatory implementations, as also supporting any multi-jurisdictional transactions across Europe and North America.

How important is choosing to work with external lawyers who align with your company’s values? Are you likely to reconsider what firms you work with based on this?

The specialisation was definitely the key driver which has made a huge contribution to deepening the development of knowledge, boosting the confidence of in-house lawyers, knowing that certain law firms have the right lawyers with the right mindset and commercial positioning. This progress has been very helpful as it has given lawyers the ability to understand their clients’ strengths and business drive, allowing them to provide more robust, pragmatic, focused legal advice. The cooperation between in-house counsels and external counsels can be built in a very constructive way, bringing enormous benefits to the business to be able to grow and expand their ideas, provided the right path is followed.

Why are in-house lawyers well-placed to drive change within their organisations?

In-house lawyers are well-placed to drive change within their organisations due to their deep understanding of their internal organisation, proactive approach to identifying legal risks, cross-functional collaboration, ability to identify cost-effective solutions, and trusted advisor status. Lawyers now need to align with the business, understand its problems and find solutions in line with the law. The importance of speaking the same language as the business is crucial to generate value. The role of the in-house counsel is to understand the pressure points, the strategy and objectives of the business and effectively communicate to management the risks and legal issues involved in any decision. This allows management to make informed strategic choices within an acceptable legal risk profile. Managing efficiency is the end-result.

The experience of in-house counsel should not be incompatible with business acumen. Lawyers who demonstrate the ability to be business “facilitators” and make more commercially sensible decisions arguably find it easier to connect with business teams and will be more successful in their careers.

What are some of the main legislative or regulatory changes that have impacted you?

Regulatory compliance has become one of the banking industry’s most significant challenges, as a direct result of dramatically increasing implementation costs. Default can result in serious consequences for banks, with irreparable reputational costs and risks. Banks are strongly committed to an internal culture of compliance and implement compliance structures and systems and make investments in technology in order to ensure that they are fully compliant with all present and future requirements. This is a large-scale investment and a run against time to keep abreast of all regulatory requirements.

Regulatory changes are the external factor that most impacts the banking business, requiring constant supervision of new requirements in order to ensure business results, and resilience. All of this comes at a very high cost. A cost that translates into hours spent on assessments, system adaptations, and investments in new IT tools, rather than focusing on what banks really should be focusing on – providing credit and helping customers access that credit.

The impact of excessive legislation on the financial sector is ultimately to make access to capital more expensive, as a result of the costs of meeting the obligations arising from this regulatory over-compliance.