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Portugal on the Move - Debt Deals

As many of you may know I have been a frequent traveller to Lisbon, Portugal for a number of years. Great city and great people.

Little did I think that we would be representing British and Irish borrowers with distressed loans in Portugal.

The Portuguese banks are not of the same mind - set as the Anglo Saxon Banks. They don't do deals.  It's a matter of honour for them even though they may have been reckless in their own lending practices. It`s just how they are and logic and commerciality take a back seat – not at all our Anglo Saxon way!

When I first met at board level a number of the Directors of the Banks discussing mediation and debt write off they were very courteous but I knew they were aghast at the concept never mind the practice. I certainly was speaking with a foreign tongue.

 However, we persevered with our relentless negotiations and education of the banks.

Some 24 months later I am delighted to confirm that we have settled our first case in Lisbon for less than €10c in the Euro. This was one of the most difficult and challenging cases that we at GDP have undertaken. Foreign jurisdiction, language and custom were no barriers to a successful outcome for us and our client. To quote  " An excellent result and very professionally handled". If he only knew how challenging and difficult this case was.

Times are a changing and now is a good time to take advantage of the change in Portugal. The banks are in difficulty, impaired balance sheets and no liquidity. The outlook for Europe looks gloomy from Italy to Germany and in particular on the Iberian Peninsula.

We have seen it all before. Act now and we can help. I look forward to my next visit to tLisbon with some satisfaction at having delivered a great result for a client and pioneered a mind-set change with the Portuguese Banks.

James GibbonsComment