BPF: law, governance and growth
General counsel Miguel Barbosa on building legal strategy into product design and supporting a tenfold rise in guarantee-backed lending
by glória paiva
In a short span of time, Banco Português de Fomento (BPF) has evolved from a newly created promotional bank in 2020 into a key player in Portugal’s financing landscape. In the last year alone, guarantee-backed lending increased tenfold — from €553 million to €5.7 billion — while the number of supported companies rose from 2,400 to over 16,000. Behind this expansion lies a structure that brings together several public entities, including Portugal Capital Ventures, Turismo de Fundos (SGOIC) and the Mutual Guarantee System (SGM). Since 2025, BPF has mobilised €10.7 billion in investment and financing instruments, climbing from 16th to 5th place in the European ranking of promotional banks.
The ambition is now to break into the top three. To get there, the bank has been strengthening its leadership and governance, including the appointment of Miguel Barbosa as general counsel in May this year. With more than a decade leading the legal function at SGM, Barbosa knows the system inside out, having coordinated legal teams, combined roles with operational management, led Portugal’s four mutual guarantee societies and overseen their consolidation into a single national entity.
What were the key moments in your career up to becoming general counsel?
What proved decisive was having worked in very different legal environments. I began, like most lawyers, in law firms, between litigation and general corporate advisory work, and only later specialised in banking, capital and investment. I then had a very intense experience as a law firm manager, which gave me leadership and business tools. The transition to an in-house role, already within the ecosystem of mutual guarantees and public support, consolidated all of that. Over the last 12 years, at SGM, I have held several roles, which provided deep insight into the backstage of the activity. Having been in the back office, understanding systems, alerts and internal dynamics gives you a huge advantage when it comes to making structural changes. It is something I use every day.
Which soft skills do you now consider fundamental for the role?
One of them, which is undervalued in our field, is creativity. In the financial sector, products and instruments are constantly evolving, and the legal function cannot lag behind. You need to think beyond the familiar legal standards. Another essential skill is abstract thinking: stepping away from pure legal reasoning, almost thinking philosophically, defining objectives before defining solutions. And a third would be resilience, because there are more obstacles than accolades. You need to be prepared to deal with frustration and to continue pursuing objectives aligned with the mission.
How do you see today the role of the general counsel at Banco Português de Fomento?
The reactive legal function is over. Today, the general counsel has a strategic role, side by side with the other key areas of the bank. The legal function now comes in at the product design stage. If we do not want to be a bottleneck, we have to be involved from the outset. We are facilitators of the business, often finding solutions that other areas cannot. All of this without giving up legal certainty, governance, traceability and the protection of public funds.
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