Who We Are

Message from the Chairman

The APB is the representative entity of the Portuguese banking system, dedicated to defending and promoting its common interests with the authorities, regulators and society in general and to cooperate in promoting the country's general interests.

The most important parts of its mission are helping to ensure that the sector’s regulation is functional, proportional and balanced and ensures fair competition conditions in Europe and defending the sector's reputation and promoting social recognition of the importance of banking for the country's development. To this end, the APB works in close cooperation with the regulators and authorities that oversee the sector and is open to dialogue with other organisations in society.

The Association is also committed to the education of professionals in the sector, providing qualified training and promoting financial literacy in society, particular for young and older people, by developing and supporting various initiatives.

The Association and its members are attentive to the cyclical or circumstantial deterioration in social conditions that may result from unexpected economic cycles or shocks, seeking to contribute to solutions that help families and solvent companies mitigate and overcome the transitory impact of these adversities.

This was the case during the Covid-19 pandemic, where a rapid response was implemented with own-initiative moratoria and active collaboration in promoting and applying public policies related to its activity. And it was also the case during the rapid and significant rise in interest rates stemming from the anti-inflationary monetary policy, where the Association was an active partner of the Government in designing and implementing public policies to support families with mortgages. Members got involved from early on, each on their own initiative and on their own terms, to alleviate their clients’ difficulties.

Having gone through a very difficult period following the great international financial crisis, first, and the euro crisis immediately afterwards, the sector’s institutions have since made an enormous effort to recover the necessary financial soundness. And they have done so by strengthening their capital bases, strengthening the assets on their balance sheets, cleaning up the destructive or non-value-generating components and substantially improving corporate governance.

Shareholders have been very actively engaged in this effort – which resulted in greater resilience for the sector – by providing the necessary capital, and managers and employees, creating the conditions for this capital to generate the value that is essential for sustaining it, as well as what needs to continue to be attracted to grow and support the development aspirations of the economy and society. 

Banks are fundamental for economic and social development and it is very important, in their own interest, that society recognises this. It is the activity of banks, through the credit they grant, that allows households and companies to anticipate future income in order to meet their current needs, or to carry out their plans. Without it, many families would only be able to access home ownership at a very late stage in their lives and many companies would not be able to make the investments on which their activity and the growth of the country's economy depend. Families would be needier, there would be fewer viable businesses, the country would be poorer and there would be fewer jobs.

But, in order for banks to be able to effectively carry out their mission to support and stimulate the country's economic and social development, they must be able to attract and retain capital. This, in turn, requires them to be able to properly remunerate that capital, providing levels of return that are not lower than those provided by other companies that compete with them for investment capital.

This leads to the unavoidable assertion, which many foolishly insist on ignoring, that the country's economic and social development depends on profitable banks.

Team

Vítor Bento
Chairman of the APB since May 2021

Norberto Rosa
Secretary-General of the APB since January 2019

Ana Moucho
Assistant Secretary-General of the APB since February 2022

To learn more about the internal organisation of the APB, see the Association’s organisation chart.

Governing bodies

The governing bodies of the APB are the General Meeting, the Board of Directors and the Supervisory Board, which are chosen from among the members by election at the General Meeting for three-year terms.

Meet the APB’s governing bodies for 2024-2026.

Archive of the governing bodies

History of APB

The APB was created on 17 October 1984 and merged with the Banking Training Institute, which had begun as the Banking Training Association on 10 January 1980.

Its founding banks were the following institutions:

• Banco Borges e Irmão
• Banco Comercial dos Açores
• Banco do Brasil
• Banco Espírito Santo e Comercial de Lisboa
• Banco de Fomento Nacional
• Banco Nacional Ultramarino
• Banco Fonsecas & Burnay
• Banco Pinto & Sotto Mayor
• Banco Português do Atlântico
• Bank of London and South America
• Caixa Económica do Funchal
• Caixa Económica Montepio Geral
• Caixa Geral dos Depósitos
• Credit Franco Portugais
• Crédito Predial Português
• União de Bancos Portugueses
• Lloyds Bank

Since it was created, the APB has had seven chairmen:

• Álvaro Pinto Correia (1984 a 1985)
• Raúl Almeida Capela (1985 a 1987)
• Alexandre Vaz Pinto (de 1987 a 1994)
• João Salgueiro (de 1994 a 2009)
• António de Sousa (de 2009 a 2012)
• Fernando Faria de Oliveira (de 2012 a 2021)
• Vítor Bento (desde 2021)