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Decree Law No. 67/2021 of 30 July 2021, which establishes the legal framework and defines the governance model for promoting technology-based innovation through the creation of technological free zones (ZLTs), was approved by the Portuguese government in 2021. There is no creation of ZLTs by this act, but it establishes the basic conditions for their future creation by interested parties (which will require separate legislation). ZLTs are indeed thought of as regulatory sandboxes and monitored constantly by the applicable regulating bodies. With this Law, more than just 'regulatory sandboxes', 'innovation spaces', 'experimental spaces' or 'living labs' have been created for individual sectors; the focus is now on a cross-sector, integrated approach to experimentation, which will be subject to various regulations from both BoP and CMVM to lighten the load and cultivate an attitude of experimentation.¹

The Portuguese financial regulators, the BoP, the CMVM and the Insurance and Pension Funds Authority, have launched the Portugal FinLab programme for its third edition. This aims to create a direct channel between businesses, startups and the regulators. The design is to help fintech-related companies in tackling legal and regulatory issues. Moreover, it reflects that these regulators are taking more interest in this industry as they are now involved in several fintech-related conferences and publishing reports of these meetings on their websites.¹

There are licensing and registry requirements with either the BoP or the CMVM for payment and e-money institutions, as well as PISPs, AISPs, and management entities for crowdfunding platforms. In addition, certain entities that engage in virtual assets-related activities must register with the BoP under a new regime.¹

Crowdfunding in Portugal

Fintech in other countries

Notes

1. https://thelawreviews.co.uk/title/the-financial-technology-law-review/portugal