60% of Portugal’s banking system controlled by foreign capital

Over 60% of Portugal’s banks are controlled by foreign capital or have a considerable share controlled by overseas banking groups according to calculations made by the news agency Lusa based on figures from the Portuguese Banking Association. (APB)

Banks either totally or partly controlled by overseas capital in Portugal are BCP, Stander Totta, Novobanco, BPI, Bankinter and Abanca.

Bank assets include client credit (the bulk of assets) but also applications in other banks and financial instruments such as shares and bonds.

Bank liabilities, on the other hand, aggregate the responsibilities that banks have towards third parties, starting with deposits.

The Banking Association data from 2024 shows the investment of overseas capital in the Portuguese banking system over the past 10 years. In 2016 overseas capital in Portugal’s banks represented 50% of the total.

Currently, the main banks operating in Portugal are Caixa Geral de Depósitos (fully owned by the Portuguese State), BCP (the main shareholders are China’s Fosun and Angola’s Sonangol), Santander Totta (owned by the Spanish group Santander), Novo Banco (75% owned by the US fund Lone Star) and BPI (owned by the Spanish group Caixabank).

In terms of medium-size Portuguese banks, the main ones are Crédito Agrícola and Montepio, followed by the Spanish banks Bankinter and Eurobic Abanca (a transitional brand after the Spanish group Abanca bought EuroBic).

Currently Spanish banks have a 30% share in Portugal’s banks. Caixabank (Spanish) took control of BPI in 2017 while part of BANIF (which was wound up) passed to Santander Totta while part of Barclays’ activity was purchased by Bakinter in 2016 when Barclays pulled out of Portugal. In 2024 Abanco acquired EuroBic.

In 2016 the Chinese group Fosun became the largest shareholder in BCP and currently has 20.03%. In 2015 Haitong bought BES Investimento and currently operates in Portugal as Haitong Bank.

The US fund Lone Star, through Nani Holdings, holds 75% of Novobanco while 25% is held by the Portuguese State. The bank will be floated on the Lisbon stock exchange probably this year.