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The Portugal Brief

The Portugal Brief

Lone Star Closes the Door on Eight Years at Novo Banco as French Group BPCE Takes 100% Ownership Today — Portugal's Fourth-Largest Bank Crosses Into the Hands of Europe's Second-Biggest Cooperative on 30 April 2026

Lone Star Closes the Door on Eight Years at Novo Banco as French Group BPCE Takes 100% Ownership Today — Portugal's Fourth-Largest Bank Crosses Into the Hands of Europe's Second-Biggest Cooperative on 30 April 2026

BPCE — the French cooperative banking group behind Banque Populaire and Caisse d'Épargne — completes the €6.4 billion acquisition of Novo Banco on 30 April, ending Lone Star's eight-year ownership and folding Portugal's fourth-largest bank into a 32-million-customer European retail group.
The Portugal Brief
CP More Than Doubles Its 2025 Profit to €4.8 Million on a Record 208 Million Passengers — Comboios de Portugal Exits the General Government Sector and Will Gain Procurement Autonomy in 2027

CP More Than Doubles Its 2025 Profit to €4.8 Million on a Record 208 Million Passengers — Comboios de Portugal Exits the General Government Sector and Will Gain Procurement Autonomy in 2027

Comboios de Portugal closed 2025 with a €4.8M profit — up 166% — on 208M passengers, helped by the €20 Passe Ferroviário Verde. INE has now removed CP from the general government institutional sector register, which from 2027 will hand the operator full management and procurement autonomy.
The Portugal Brief
Importing a Car to Portugal in 2026 — The Transferência de Residência ISV Exemption, the DAV Customs Declaration, the Modelo 112 Inspection, the IMT Homologation, and What the Process Actually Costs

Importing a Car to Portugal in 2026 — The Transferência de Residência ISV Exemption, the DAV Customs Declaration, the Modelo 112 Inspection, the IMT Homologation, and What the Process Actually Costs

Bringing a car when you move to Portugal can be tax-free under the transferência de residência exemption — six months abroad, six months ownership, a 12-month application window, and a 12-month sale ban. Outside that, ISV plus legalisation runs €750 to €10,000-plus. The procedure walked end to end.
The Portugal Brief
Football Leaks Whistleblower Rui Pinto Walks Out of His Second Trial Acquitted of All 241 Counts — Lisbon's Central Criminal Court Voids the Indictment as Constitutionally Defective and Says a 'Stretch of His Life' Cannot Be Tried Twice

Football Leaks Whistleblower Rui Pinto Walks Out of His Second Trial Acquitted of All 241 Counts — Lisbon's Central Criminal Court Voids the Indictment as Constitutionally Defective and Says a 'Stretch of His Life' Cannot Be Tried Twice

Lisbon's Central Criminal Court acquitted Rui Pinto of all 241 charges in the second Football Leaks trial Wednesday, voiding the Public Prosecutor's indictment as constitutionally defective and rejecting double prosecution on substantively identical facts.
The Portugal Brief